(Bloomberg) — The leader of the largest group of House conservatives said Monday he couldn't support the party's existing Obamacare replacement strategy.
Rep. Mark Walker, who chairs the 170-member Republican Study Committee, also said he won't recommend his colleagues do so, either.
"There are serious problems with what appears to be our current path to repeal and replace Obamacare," Walker said in a statement, warning that the emerging GOP plan would appear to create a new, expensive entitlement program.
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The term "Obamacare" is sometimes used to refer to the two-law Affordable Care Act package, and sometimes just to the components of the package that relate to Medicaid, the commercial health insurance market and some Medicare programs. Walker did not say what he includes when he uses that term.
Walker's announcement came a day before Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress, and on the same day that the president promised to offer "something special" on his health care overhaul efforts.
But the comments from Walker are a potentially serious blow for the plan by Republican leaders to push through a bill in the coming weeks to repeal and replace the polarizing health care law. Several conservatives have already voiced concerns about the strategy not going far enough to dismantle Obamacare, while other Republicans have been battered by constituents in town halls over the likelihood that the GOP's replacement would insure fewer Americans.
The support of Walker, a North Carolina Republican, is important, given that the plan cannot be passed in the 435-seat House without almost unified Republican support, since no Democratic backing is likely.
Outdated draft
Walker's statement refers to a two-week old draft of the Republican plan, leaked last week, which he said "risks continuing major Obamacare entitlement expansions and delays any reforms."
House Republicans are set to meet behind closed doors on Tuesday morning, where they are expected to discuss the path ahead. Many leaders are counting on the strong pressure from outside conservative groups pushing for a repeal to keep Republicans in line behind their plan, but the path forward remains difficult.
Trump's administration has promised elements of a replacement plan by mid-March. But the president's public statements have sometimes been at odds with GOP lawmakers. Trump has promised better, less expensive care for all without cutting entitlement programs, such as Medicare, while Republicans in Congress have admitted that their plan is likely to cover fewer of the 20 million people who gained coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
House Ways and Means Chair Kevin Brady said the leaked draft is outdated, but he did not say how his colleagues thinking has changed. (Photo: Charles Dharapak/AP)
'Republican stamp'
Walker's statement serves only to underscore that continued lack of cohesion.
"The bill contains what increasingly appears to be a new health-insurance entitlement with a Republican stamp on it," said Walker, who had already been raising concerns over the proposed inclusion of refundable tax credits in the plan.
