EDITORIAL: Ryan, GOP must build consensus, improve health bill

March 30--Despite having the majority in both the House and Senate, Republicans failed to make headway on new national health care plan -- with in-party fighting sounding remarkably like the partisan bickering that was the hallmark of the past eight years in Washington.

The Freedom Caucus -- made up of 30 conservative Republican House members -- helped shoot down the GOP-pitched American Health Care Act, designed to replace the current Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010 and known as "Obamacare."

Republican lawmakers who supported the AHCA, including Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly of Butler, pointed fingers at their fellow party members.

"Some accomplished what they set out to accomplish, which was nothing but to get a lot of face time on TV," Kelly told our Washington reporter, Kery Murakami.

Sounding a lot like Democrats during the Obama administration, Kelly added: "There's a lot more to governing than just saying no."

We're troubled by the GOP infighting after a political cycle that saw the party surge, led by Donald Trump's election to the White House, based largely on a pledge to replace the existing health plan.

The Freedom Caucus opposed the AHCA because it was too much like the "Obamacare" plan, they said -- calling the latest health proposal a "Republican welfare bill" in part because it would have required insurers to cover preexisting conditions.

Republican Tom Massie of Kentucky, who is not a Freedom Caucus member, said the GOP bill would get a "hell no" vote from him.

Massie blamed the setback on Trump, who had demanded a vote on Friday -- while issues were still being debated.

The Trump administration suggested Monday that it believed some Democrats could be lured into the ACHA camp, prompting Massie to declare: "It's fantasy (to think) a single Democrat will support repealing Barack Obama's legacy law."

Democratic leaders Sen. Chuck Shumer of New York and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of

California echoed Massie's assertion when they pledged to work on a compromise as long as it does not include a complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Rep. Dave Loebsack, an Iowa Democrat, said: "The American people don't want us to repeal the law. They want us to fix it."

Insurance companies are pushing for a decision soon so they can alert customers of any changes by June.

The American Medical Associated and the American Hospital Association both opposed the AHCA because it would make significant cuts to Medicaid.

Others opposed provisions included by conservatives that would have reduced options for maternity care and mental health programs.

Yes, there are problems with the ACA and there are problems with the AHCA.

Rushing forward to replace one ill-conceived program with another is not a sensible course.

Realizing he didn't have the votes, Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the AHCA from the House floor on Friday and continues to sound like he believes he can rally enough support to get a revised bill through the House.

"I don't want to become a factionalized majority," Ryan said. "I want us to become a unified majority. That means we're going to talk things out until we get there. We're going to work together until we get this right."

Results of CBS News poll released Wednesday showed that 49 percent believe the reason the AHCA didn't succeed on the first attempt was that "it just wasn't popular."

Others put equal blame on Democrats, Republicans and the president -- all about 14 percent -- for the bill's failure.

Ryan has work to do both within his party and with health organizations if he is to meet the promise of a new health plan that helped so many Republicans win in November.

As Pennsylvania Republican Lou Barletta noted: "There will be consequences in the elections because of questions about our ability to govern."

New York Republican Elise Stefanik made the most sensible statement during the process -- reflecting the realization that a bad process will not yield good results:

"We need to continue working to find solutions we can agree on that will help fix our broken healthcare system."

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