McConnell Plans Quick Revision on Health Care

Mitch McConnell's reputation as a master wheeler-and-dealer on Capitol Hill may have taken a hit over the GOP's in-limbo ObamaCare alternative, but he's got a plan to rebound quickly. The Washington Post reports that the Senate majority leader intends to submit a revised version to the Congressional Budget Office by Friday. The idea is that the CBO could assess the bill over the July 4 break, leaving McConnell enough time to get a bill passed before the Senate's August recess. It's not yet clear what kind of revisions McConnell has in mind.

McConnell has to walk a fine line between senators from states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and conservatives who want to more aggressively dismantle the ACA, notes Politico. Before the bill was pulled, nine senators publicly opposed it for various reasons. Given that whatever comes out of the Senate would then have to pass the House, the Post suggests that appeasing conservatives would be the smarter move politically for McConnell. That would put the focus more on budgetary savings than coverage. (The first CBO estimate predicted that 22 million people would lose insurance under the measure.)