According to this story by Matt Fuller, the original sponsors of the bill to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act have now been cut out of the legislative process and won't know what they are voting on. And it sounds like the last-minute revisions will cause massive harm to people most in need of essential health care services. An excerpt:
Just hours before an expected Thursday vote in the House, congressional Republicans are considering massive changes to insurance coverage without even a basic idea of what those changes would mean. According to House Freedom Caucus members, the conservative group is negotiating directly with President Donald Trump and the White House on an amendment to the Republican health care bill, seemingly cutting out GOP leadership from the conversation as Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and his deputies work to corral votes for a bill that is, in these latest provisions, a mystery even to them. The re-opening of negotiations is an admission of what has been clear all along ― that the bill as constructed by Ryan does not have the votes to pass on Thursday. It also represents a major reorganization of a significant chunk of the American economy in a matter of hours.Conservatives are using their considerable leverage on the measure ― the Freedom Caucus has demonstrated it has the votes to sink the legislation ― to extract concessions on the Essential Health Benefits section of the bill, which mandates that insurers offer plans covering 10 services: outpatient care, emergency room visits, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and addiction treatment, prescription drugs, rehabilitative services, lab services, preventive care and pediatric services.
