CBO score could force dicey AHCA re-vote

Brunswick News (GA)

May 22--By Wednesday, it may be clear whether the U.S. House Republicans' American Heath Care Act moves to the Senate or needs another vote in the House, a fact that may surprise those who thought it passed the House on May 4 by the unusually close vote of 217-213.

But, it turns out, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan held onto the bill awaiting the Congressional Budget Office's evaluations of the amendments attached to the legislation that were not scored by the CBO before the House GOP leadership initiated the May 4 vote, under the belief the amendments would not make that much of a difference.

The issue regards Senate rules on a procedure called reconciliation, which allows for a bill to pass with a simple majority and does not open it up to a filibuster by the Senate Democratic minority. With the new CBO score, the bill has to save at least $2 billion.

Bloomberg reported the developments late Thursday afternoon, which came as a surprise to at least two members of the GOP whip team on the bill, the legislators tasked with the responsibility for corralling enough votes for the legislation's passage.

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-1, was one of the congressmen tasked with taking the case for the AHCA to the public. He said when the bill passed earlier this month, "I look forward to continuing our work to resuscitate our health care system. As I have always said, the AHCA is a strong first step, but I'm committed it's not the last.

"The House has already passed additional legislation to lower health insurance costs and take the first step toward allowing the purchase of insurance across state lines and more action is coming. Today is a big win in the fight to repeal and replace Obamacare and it won't be the last."

With the new developments, he said Friday in a statement to The News that the CBO score should not hinder the bill as it stands.

"This seems to be a technical non-issue," Carter said. "Republicans in the House united to pass this legislation and I hope the Senate will act as soon as possible to do the same. There really is no time to waste as Obamacare continues to crush our health care system. Across Georgia, 96 counties have only one insurer offering exchange plans. This bill is critical to deliver the choice and control patients need and deserve."

However, in the same Bloomberg story that broke the news, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore. -- chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which Carter is a member -- said the bill's movement hinges on the CBO.

"We've got to wait for the CBO score," Walden said. "To prove that you meet the reconciliation test."

Meanwhile, Carter's comment echoed what Ryan said to The Hill earlier in the day Friday.

"It's just a technical non-issue, is what it is," Ryan said. "Just out of the abundance of caution, we're waiting to send the bill to the Senate for the final CBO score."

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