Inside the Senate's last-gasp effort to solve the health care crisis
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Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) isn't giving up on a health care plan that can win 35 Senate Republicans and a majority of Democrats — but he and a small bipartisan group have about three weeks left to find it.
Why it matters: Enhanced ACA subsidies have expired, which will raise health care costs for millions of Americans. But key negotiators see a final chance to revive them.
- "We're on the clock," Moreno told Axios in an interview. "We're not going to talk about this past January — like, we either make a deal this month or we don't make a deal."
- "It may be we don't make a deal," he acknowledged, given the political atmosphere. He won't push a bill that only gets a handful of Republicans — he wants 35.
Zoom in: The bipartisan plan would reinstate the ACA enhanced subsides for two years and extend open enrollment into March, Moreno said, walking through policies that he says have "decent consensus."
- It will likely include income caps at 700% of the poverty line, replace $0 premium plans with $5 premiums and allow individuals to choose whether the enhanced subsidies go into Health Savings Accounts or directly toward premiums.
- The group has also discussed massive penalties on insurance companies that deliberately enroll people into Obamacare without their knowledge.
What to watch: Cost-sharing reductions are a big part of the talks now too, and would likely go into effect in year two, Moreno said.
- It could be key for GOP support as they cut government costs and, Moreno argued, would lower Obamacare premiums for everyone by about 11%.
The other side: Language ensuring taxpayer dollars do not go toward abortions continues to be sticking point, Moreno acknowledged, though he hopes there can be a break through.
- "It's not about gaining ground and saying we're doing something more than [the Hyde Amendment]. And it's not something, on the Democrat side, saying we're doing something less than Hyde," he said. "We're trying to respect a established tradition..."
- Trump urged House Republicans in remarks on Tuesday to "own health care" and encouraged them to be "flexible" on the Hyde Amendment.
Zoom out: Moreno has been a lead negotiator in ongoing, bipartisan health care talks alongside other senators such as Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).
- They have met regularly for months, and as recently as Monday night.
- Moreno said they hope to finish a draft bill to start getting a sense of an early whip count on both sides. But some key details — especially Hyde Amendment protections — are still being hashed out.
The bottom line: It will be a tricky needle to thread. Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters "there is potentially a path forward there, but it's something that would have to get a big vote, and certainly a big vote among Republicans."
- Meanwhile Democrats are already making health care their top issue as they try to win back control of one or both chambers this year.
