In Part VII of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we described the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (“BCRA”), the Senate GOP’s latest Obamacare repeal and replace legislation. While the Senate GOP leadership had hoped to vote on this bill as soon as this week, the sudden announcement on July 17th by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) of their opposition to BCRA has effectively killed the legislation as written. With Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Rand Paul (R-KY) having previously voiced their refusal to support BCRA, the bill simply lacks sufficient votes to pass or even be voted on by the full Senate. In response to this development, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued the following statement:
Continue Reading Part VIII: BCRA – What Is Dead May Never Die

Caveat: As of the date of this writing, there are indications that revisions to the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (“BCRA”) are in the works and may be issued as soon as Friday, June 30, 2017. If a revised BCRA is issued, there will be a new CBO report generated with respect to the revised bill. We will continue to watch the progress of the BCRA and, as a result, we will post to this blog additional blog posts regarding BCRA revisions, if any, and the BCRA’s advancement through the Senate, if any.

In Part VI of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we outlined the “Macarthur Amendment” to the American Health Care Act (“AHCA”), which led to the bill’s narrow passage in the House on May 4, 2017. Almost 50 days later, on June 22, 2017, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a “discussion draft” of the Senate’s response: the BCRA. While in large part similar to its House counterpart, there are some important changes, outlined below.
Continue Reading Part VII: The Senate’s Response to the American Health Care Act

In Part V of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we outlined some of the key provisions of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Roughly two weeks after our post was published, GOP congressional leadership pulled the legislation from a floor vote, recognizing that the bill did not have sufficient support to pass in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nevertheless they persisted, and an amendment to the legislation negotiated in substantial part by Representatives Tom MacArthur and Mark Meadows injected new life into the AHCA. The so-called “MacArthur Amendment” sought to bridge the gap between conservative Republican members of the House Freedom Caucus and more moderate GOP members of the House, and an additional amendment – the “Upton Amendment” – helped seal the deal. With those two amendments attached, the bill narrowly cleared the House on a party-line vote (albeit with some GOP defectors), 217-213.
Continue Reading Part VI: An Update on the American Health Care Act

In Part IV of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we discussed a few post-inauguration developments with respect to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  In this Part V, we provide a brief overview of some of the key provisions of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the latest in the ongoing saga of the ACA’s future.

On March 6, 2017, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan unveiled his much anticipated ACA “repeal and replace” bill, the AHCA. Although it is currently undergoing markup in the House of Representatives, and thus is subject to change even in the immediate future, it is worth considering some of the legislation’s core features, as they establish a general framework within which a successful repeal and replace effort may operate.  For example, in its current draft form, the AHCA includes various key components, including those set forth in the following abridged list:Continue Reading Part V: A Brief Overview of the American Health Care Act