The health-care world is gearing up for a lobbying offensive to persuade Republican U.S. senators to address their problems with an Obamacare replacement that was conceived in the House in a virtual vacuum.
Insurers, doctors, patient groups and most health-care experts are pinning their hopes on the Senate being more receptive after House Republicans—led by Speaker Paul Ryan—deliberately avoided discussing their plans with the main groups that would be affected by repealing the 2010 law. House GOP lawmakers say they kept the process closed out of concern that interest groups might try to shape the bill in their favor.
“Lord no!” said Representative Phil Roe of Tennessee, co-chairman of the House Republican doctors’ caucus, making the case that some segments of the health industry benefited from the very regulations and paying customers created by Obamacare. “They have a vested interest in keeping it around.”
Now, as GOP senators try to craft a repeal bill that can attract 50 votes, the industry won’t be left on the sidelines. Billions of dollars in U.S. health spending are at stake for hospitals, insurers and doctors who are worried by estimates that 24 million fewer Americans would be insured by 2026 under the House bill.
“I think initially there will be a lot more accessibility,” said Dick Woodruff, senior vice president of federal advocacy at the American Cancer Society’s lobbying arm, the Cancer Action Network. “I think the Senate process is going to be a lot more deliberative.”
For example, Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, a key negotiator on the chamber’s health bill, wrote to lobby groups and industry officials asking for suggestions. He also offered a word of caution.
“While I intend to be ambitious in these efforts, it is also critically important that expectations be managed and everyone remains willing to work toward the art of the doable,” Hatch wrote.
‘No Formal Outreach’
Groups representing doctors also say that senators appear open to meeting with them.
“On the House side, there was no formal outreach, that I know of, by House leadership to sit down with us and hear our concerns or get our input before the bill was introduced,” said Bob Doherty, senior vice president of health policy and regulatory affairs at the American College of Physicians. “After, we did have repeated meetings with people in House leadership, the door was open and we expressed our concerns but it didn’t seem to do much good.”