Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., right, chair of the House Health Subcommittee, says President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr want to take a sledgehammer to health care, as she joins, from left, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., at a Democratic event ahead of a House floor vote on the Health Care and Prescription Drug Package, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 15, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
May 16, 2019 - 4:41 PM
WASHINGTON - The Latest on House health care legislation (all times local):
6 p.m.
Democrats have pushed legislation through the House that would buttress the 2010 health care law and curb prescription drug prices.
But the bill has no chance of surviving in the Senate or getting President Donald Trump's signature. And it seems engineered with next year's elections in mind.
The measure forced Republicans into the uncomfortable political position of casting a single vote on legislation that contained popular drug pricing restraints they support, but also provisions strengthening President Barack Obama's health care statute that they oppose.
Most Republicans voted against the overall package.
The bill would reverse steps Trump has taken to weaken Obama's law, like blocking Trump's expansion of the availability of low-cost, low-coverage plans. It would also make it easier for generic drug makers to sell their products, which cost less than brand-name pharmaceuticals.
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5 p.m.
Democrats are pushing legislation buttressing the 2010 health care law and curbing prescription drug prices toward House passage, advancing a bill that seems engineered with next year's elections in mind and has no chance of surviving in the Senate or getting President Donald Trump's signature.
The measure forces Republicans into the uncomfortable political position of casting a single vote on legislation that contained popular drug pricing restraints they support but measures strengthening President Barack Obama's health care statute that they oppose. In the end, most Republicans seemed poised to vote against the overall package.
Much of the bill focused on reversing steps — largely backed by GOP lawmakers — that Trump has taken to weaken Obama's law.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019