Trump presses GOP to act on health care reform

With the Justice Department now in favor of a legal ruling to scrap the entire system set up by the Obama health law, President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Republican Senators to find a way to approve legislation in Congress to make major reforms in the U.S. health care system, a move which was denounced - and also welcomed - by Democrats.

"The Republican Party will become 'The Party of Healthcare!'" the President tweeted as he arrived on Capitol Hill for a Tuesday lunch meeting with GOP Senators, where he spoke about the need to act on major changes to the Obama health law.

"The Republican Party will soon be known as the party of health care, you watch," Mr. Trump said as he went into meet with Republicans at the U.S. Capitol.

But GOP Senators made clear to reporters that President Trump did not provide any plan or guidance on what he wanted to change in the Obama health law - other than saying it should protect those with pre-existing conditions medical conditions.

The lack of detail from President Trump was much like what happened during the GOP effort to "repeal and replace" the Obama health law in 2017 and 2018, as the White House and Republicans were unable to agree on a plan, with the effort ultimately going down to defeat after a vote by the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

Democrats - who were backpedaling in the wake of the Special Counsel's report on the Russia investigation - could not believe their ears, as they readily waded into the policy waters of health care on Tuesday, fully convinced it is favorable turf for their members and candidates in Congress.

"The GOP will never stop trying to destroy the affordable health care of America's families," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as the events came just as Democrats were unveiling a new bill designed to shore up the current Obama health law system, and do more for those with pre-existing conditions.

"The Trump Administration has made every effort to sabotage the law," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).

At a rally in the Capitol, Democrats were energized by the reminder that health care had been a big advantage for them in the 2018 elections, as they repeatedly put GOP candidates and incumbents on the defensive about how they could vote to repeal the Obama health law, and yet also try to say they were for insurance protections for pre-existing conditions and other matters.

"There's an inconsistency, if not a hypocrisy," Speaker Pelosi said.

“Your administration JUST said it wants to get rid of the entire ACA, end protections for preexisting conditions, and strip health care from 30 MILLION Americans,” tweeted Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) to the President.

“Are you sure you want to brag about health care right now?” Merkley wrote.

"The Trump Administration is now actively supporting a lawsuit that would cause millions of people to lose their health insurance, eliminate protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and trigger an immediate spike in health care costs for all Americans," said a trio of top Democrats in the House in a statement.

The shakeup came after the Trump Administration told a federal judge on Monday that it was ready to allow the entire Obama health law to be declared invalid, all part of legal wrangling about recent changes made by Congress to the individual mandate penalty, which was zeroed out as part of the GOP tax cut approved at the end of 2017.

Here are the details of the new health care plan unveiled by Democrats in the House on Monday:

This is a one page description of the legislation.

This is a section-by-section analysis of the plan offered by Democrats.

For legislative junkies, here is the actual bill text, as the bill has the somewhat complicated name of the, "Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions and Making Health Care More Affordable Act."

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