Republicans are not setting a date for when they will take up legislation that is expected to repeal Obamacare and replace it simultaneously, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday.
“We aren’t holding hard deadlines,” said Ryan, R-Wis. “Only because we want to get it right. We need to move quickly because the law is collapsing, but we also want to get it right.”
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House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Wednesday lawmakers are aiming to complete legislation for the Trump administration by the end of February. Ryan said Republicans are “working on an aggressive timetable,” but declined to confirm the February completion pledge made by McCarthy.
The House will vote Friday on a measure that will empower Congress to move forward with repeal legislation. That legislation will be authored by several committees in the House and Senate and will include provisions to replace Obamacare, such as the expansion of health savings accounts.
Ryan said he is working “completely in sync” and is “planning on a daily basis” with the incoming Trump administration on a concurrent repeal and replace measure. Replacement legislation, he said, will be based on providing “more choices, more options, lower prices and more control” for health insurance consumers.
Republicans authored a general outline for a replacement plan in a six-part GOP agenda. It calls for replacing the law with health insurance tax credits and allowing consumers to purchase plans in other states, among other proposals.
Ryan said a transition period will ensure those currently signed up for Obamacare do not lose health insurance. The final repeal/replace measure, Ryan said, will “spell out how, exactly, we are going to deal with this law.”
