March 02, 2017 12:51 PM UTC

On Healthcare, Watch What Republicans DO...Not What they Say

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• by: Colorado Pols

Talking about healthcare reform is easy.

Donald Trump says that Obamacare will be repealed and replaced “with something terrific,” though he doesn’t have any idea what that might entail (and if he does, he’s not saying anything specific). Senator Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) sums up Republican healthcare efforts by saying,”On health insurance: lower the cost of care and increase the quality of care,” as though it had never before occurred to anyone else that lower costs and higher quality would be a good outcome here.

To borrow a phrase, these are “bright banalities” that mean absolutely nothing because it’s actually kinda hard to lower costs and increase coverage at the same time. We’ve talked before in this space about how Congressional Republicans are all over the place on their messaging about a potential Obamacare repeal/replacement, and it’s not at all clear that those who are doing the talking are truly aware of what is actually happening in the crafting of new policies. Take a look at what Sen. Gardner said today on the “Business for Breakfast” radio show:

Well, I think next week, the House of Representatives are going to see committee hearings that start on the replacement plan.  This is an idea that will go through regular order, through committees, and have an opportunity to be openly debated and talked about — something that is completely different than what happened six years ago when the Affordable Care Act was written behind closed doors and the leadership offices, and then crammed down on the Senate floor directly. [Pols emphasis]  So, this is something that is going to go through an open process — regular order, and you’ll start seeing that next week in the House of Representatives, as they debate it, move it to the floor, and then — for passage — and into the Senate in several weeks.

The idea that Republicans are going to be more transparent about their healthcare policy discussions is a canard that has been debunked before. For example, check out this January Huffington Post story:

The story that Obamacare opponents tell about its enactment is that backers conceived the health insurance proposal in secret, misled the public about its provisions, and passed it without thinking through the consequences.

That’s a totally accurate account ― of what Republicans are planning to do right now.

Alright, now let’s get back to what’s happening right now. As the Washington Post reports, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) is calling out his fellow Republicans for doing the exact opposite of what Gardner said this morning:

The quiet, tucked-away room where members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee were meeting to discuss details of a possible Affordable Care Act replacement got an unwelcome visitor Thursday: Sen. Rand Paul (R).

The Kentucky senator, who has pledged to oppose any bill that does not fully do away with the ACA and its insurance subsidies, learned late Thursday morning that H157, a room on the Capitol’s first floor, was being used by committee members who wanted details on the Republican leadership’s replacement plan.

At noon, a dozen reporters were already staking out the room — which was being guarded by Capitol Police officers — when Paul and several members of his staff strolled up. Over the objections of the officers, reporters and photographers followed Paul into the tight space in front of the door to the room.

“I’d like a copy of the bill,” Paul said to a House staff member near the door. Told that he could not get a copy — the bill is still being drafted, though Republicans are being made aware of what it will likely contain — Paul turned and faced the press…

And it’s not just Sen. Paul who wants answers his own party apparently doesn’t want to provide. Again, from the Post:

While Paul was holding court near H157, Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) led another group of reporters on a sort of scavenger hunt to the Energy and Commerce committee’s main hearing room and through a Capitol basement.

After Paul left, House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer arrived at H157, trailed by a Facebook Live-streaming staffer and some reporters. Hoyer and press members managed to enter the room — which was empty.

“Well, Mr. Lincoln, I can’t find the bill,” said Hoyer, turning to a bust of the 16th president. “I know, Mr. Lincoln, that you are as upset with your party as I am.”

Look, we know that “politicians lie!” is not exactly a stunning revelation, but it’s important to understand that the baloney being spun by Republicans like Sen. Gardner is completely different from what is actually happening in Washington D.C.