Senate Republicans dealt a blow on Medicaid changes in budget bill : NPR

The head of the majority of the Senate, John Thune, RS.D., is expressed with journalists following the weekly republican lunch of the Senate in the Capitol in Washington, DC, on June 24. The Senate Republicans quickly work to quickly adopt the `a major bill,” the legislation on the signing of President Trump.

Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images

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Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images

The Senate Republicans succeeded in a major setback in their race to adopt a massive tax and expense package on Thursday, while a chamber manager ruled against a key provision to ensure that the conference on board votes for the plan by the end of the week.

The parliamentarian of the non -partisan Senate, who plays a key role in determining the provisions that can remain in the accelerated bill, said that the change of the GOP in the way states can tax MEDICAID suppliers do not adhere to the rules to adopt the bill with a simple majority. This was a key provision to compensate for the costs of the bill’s tax cuts.

The Senate Republicans previously proposed a health stabilization fund of variable regions of $ 15 billion to remedy the reduction of a service tax which is a critical source of funding for many states.

The Democrats, who present arguments before the parliamentarian to reduce the key sections of the bill, described the victory decision.

“With more decisions to come, these guidelines are reflected in more than $ 250 billion in abolished health care discounts from the great bill of republicans,” said senator Ron Wyden, D-ear., And the best democrat of the Senate Committee Finance. “The Democrats fought and won, hitting the health care reductions in this bill that would injure the walking of the Americans on an economic rope.

“This bill is rotten to his heart, and I will continue to fight the cuts in this morally bankrupt bill until the end,” added Wyden.

A high republican official familiar with discussions told NPR that the Republicans “will continue our work to find a solution to carry out the desired results / savings” and maintained that it was not a problem as important as the Democrats were worth it.

Medicaid’s provisions were among the most complicated provisions to negotiate the bill. A question is a directive according to which the States have reduced the tax they impose on the providers of Medicaid by 6% to 3%, which effectively reveals the amount that states will receive in the tax revenue of these providers. Critics claim that the change will lead to major challenges for rural hospitals based on this money because it is part of a large tax of tax revenue for states that plays in the complex formula which determines the quantity of federal funding received within the framework of the joint program managed with the States.

Other provisions have been reported by the parliamentarian, including one unless Medicaid to cover gender assertions and to refuse coverage to certain beneficiaries of Medicaid who are not American citizens.

The Republicans of the Senate had hoped to start voting on the legislation this week, but it is not clear if they will respect their deadline to send it to the office of President Trump by the deadline of July 4. They are also faced with intense pressure from Trump to adopt the bill this week, and several members of the conference are due for a White House meeting today.

The legislation bears most of Trump’s inner agenda, but the GOP conference had trouble solving the main bonding points. While the leaders of the Senate Committee have made several major changes to the bill in recent days, the question of the financing of rural hospitals has appeared as a major roadblock.

The new Medicaid language was added to the bill sentenced to the House in the Senate, drawing objections from Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, Senator Josh Hawley, R-MO. and Senator Thom Tillis, RN.C. On Wednesday, the Senate finance committee published the compromise stabilization fund on Wednesday which would run $ 15 billion over a period of 5 years in need. However, this did not respond to what other senators said necessary.

Collins said the fund was to be closer to $ 100 billion and warned his colleagues at a vote this week without carefully solving the problem. Hawley argued that the changes in the Senate would force the negotiations written with the House, delaying the final adoption of the legislation. Tillis, who presents himself for a re -election in 2026, served at the State House in his country of origin before coming to Congress and warned that the States would not be able to fill the financing gap due to the new reductions in the bill.

The leaders of the GOP Senate also await a determination of whether the main tax provisions of the bill respect the strict rules of what can be included. The parliamentarian always examines these elements to ensure that everyone has a direct impact on the budget, among other regulations. Several other provisions in the version of the Chamber, such as a ban on legal injunctions nationwide, have already been reduced in this exam.

There is also a persistent debate on the fate of energy tax credits in the bill, changes in the safety program security program for low -income families known as additional nutrition aid or SNAP and a provision on public land.

The Senate Republicans also sail with differences with the GOP legislators who represent the districts of New York and California which insist on preserving state and local tax relief, known as salt. This section of the bill was negotiated with the president of the Mike Johnson Chamber for their voters who pay high and local taxes.

The head of the majority of the Senate, Thune, cannot afford to lose three GOP votes in order to adopt the bill.

Tax hawks in the Senate, such as Senator Ron Johnson, R-WISC., And Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., Handed concerns about new deficit spending and could both vote against the plan.

However, even if Thune is able to solve all the problems of her room, several different factions of the Republicans of the Chamber warn that they will oppose the last bill that emerges from the Senate. Thune has repeatedly called Trump the “closest” for massive legislation, and he bet that the political pressure of the White House will force the Republicans to support the package.