Peter Sullivan – TheHill:
A leading option in the Senate’s ObamaCare repeal-and-replace debate is to make even deeper cuts to Medicaid spending than the bill passed by the House, according to lobbyists and aides.
The proposal would start out the growth rate for a new cap on Medicaid spending at the same levels as the House bill, but then drop to a lower growth rate that would cut spending more, known as CPI-U, starting in 2025, the sources said.
That proposal has been sent to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for analysis, a Senate GOP aide said.
This is a savvy move by Senator Mitch McConnell. By making the Senate version of the health insurance bill so onerous that the CBO report damns it before a vote, Republicans can say they tried, but failed, and move on with the rest of their agenda. There is no way this, or the House bill, becomes law.
As for the rest of their agenda, well, a healthy debate would be nice. It won’t be over taxes, or foreign policy, or social programs. It’ll be over the removal of the fool we’ve elected president.
That’s a story for another day.
#mitch #mcconnell #senate #republicans #aca #ahca #obamacare #medicaid
A Random Stroll 