Abortion backlash dims prospects for Obamacare stabilization

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Republicans and Democrats traded barbs Monday over who is to blame for major divisions that put legislation to stabilize Obamacare on the brink of failure.

Republicans charge that Democrats are making a political move to oppose the package that some lawmakers are hoping to add to a must-pass spending deal called an omnibus. But Democrats say the legislation is a Trojan horse that Republicans want to use to erode key consumer protections in Obamacare.

The omnibus continues to be negotiated and is expected to be unveiled within the next day. House GOP leadership told members Monday the Obamacare stabilization bill, which includes funding to Obamacare insurers, won’t be included in the package.

White House legislative liaison Marc Short told reporters Monday the “prospects don’t look good at the moment” to add the bills.

A source in the room told the Washington Examiner the legislation could be included if Democrats drop their objection to applying the Hyde Amendment to the new funding in the package. The Hyde Amendment is a spending rider around since the 1970s and prohibits any federal funding from paying for abortions.

The effort to stabilize Obamacare started last year and drew bipartisan support, but that has quickly crumbled over the past week due to lingering divisions over abortion and other issues.

Some Republicans alleged Democrats aren’t concerned about the Hyde Amendment, and don’t want to stabilize Obamacare in order to put the blame on Republicans in the 2018 midterms.

“It is not about Hyde,” said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. “I think they want it as a political issue.”

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a sponsor of the legislation released Monday, said Democrats could be in trouble if they don’t support it.

He told reporters new Obamacare rates for 2019 would be announced on Oct. 1, roughly a month before the midterms.

“So if you are running for the U.S. Senate or House in November, do you really want to stand up and say I am not going to vote to lower insurance rates by 40 percent?” Alexander said, referring to an analysis that found the legislation would lower Obamacare premiums by 40 percent by 2021.

Democrats contend the package is a partisan exercise.

“Rather than help people, this proposal fails to stop the Trump administration’s regulatory rollback of consumer protections and will severely limit women’s access to care and further eliminate ACA consumer protections,” said Reps. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Richard Neal, D-Mass., and Bobby Scott, D-Va. The three lawmakers are top Democrats on several committees.

A Senate aide to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said on Monday the legislation includes a “last-minute, harmful restriction on abortion coverage for private insurance companies.”

The aide added that the release of legislative text on Monday was unexpected and Murray hopes the release “isn’t a signal from Republicans that they have once again ended ongoing negotiations aimed at lowering families’ healthcare costs in favor of partisan politics.”

The legislation released Monday funds for three years Obamacare insurer payments called cost-sharing reduction payments, which reimburse insurers for lowering out-of-pocket costs for low-income Obamacare customers, for three years. It also gives states $30 billion to set up reinsurance programs, which cover the highest claims of Obamacare insurers who in turn are incentivized to lower premiums overall.

Alexander also seemed surprised by Democratic opposition to adding Hyde language. He told reporters the goal was always to add the stabilization bills to the omnibus, which always includes Hyde language.

“If the Democrats can’t agree to applying Hyde to the [Affordable Care Act] then we will never fix the ACA and we will be back to a debate about repeal and replace,” Alexander said.

Republicans say the Hyde language that was included in Obamacare was not as strict as it applies to other federal programs like Medicaid or Medicare.

But the Hyde language would be different than the language that was added to Obamacare when it was initially passed in 2010.

“The Democrats, when they had a president, 60 votes in the Senate, and the House, found a version of Hyde they preferred and they passed it in the Affordable Care Act,” Alexander said.

Alexander added states like California and New York can still require Obamacare insurers to cover abortion.

In the middle is Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who said she has talked with Murray recently about the Hyde dispute.

“We have explained what the intent is. I am pro-choice and I would not be supporting legislation what I thought would be unreasonable burdens on a woman’s right to choose,” Collins told reporters Monday. “It has always been the case that federal funds cannot be used for abortion since the Hyde amendment passed in the mid-70s.”

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