Overnight Healthcare: ObamaCare repeal could wait until fall

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said he does not have a timeline for using reconciliation to repeal ObamaCare, but indicated that Republicans would look to roll back as much of the law as they can.

“I don’t have a time to give you, but we’re certainly going to consider using budget reconciliation for repealing as much of ObamaCare as is reconcilable,” McConnell told reporters. “There’re certain rules that have to be applied to what is reconcilable and that’s an active consideration, as you can imagine.”

Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, later Tuesday told reporters that “health” legislation will probably wait until the fall. Asked why, he said, “We’ve got a lot to do.”

{mosads}A Cornyn spokesman said that the senator was referring broadly to the issue of healthcare, not a specific bill.

The Senate is dealing with an education bill and a highway-funding deadline, with few legislative days remaining until the August recess.

Don Stewart, a McConnell spokesman, indicated later Tuesday that reconciliation for ObamaCare is likely to wait until the fall.

“The fall is a few weeks away (since we’re out in August),” he wrote in an email. “For the work period ahead we have education, cyber security, chemical safety, highway funding, etc (all in the next few weeks).” Read more here.

ANOTHER BILL YANKED OVER ABORTION: House Republican leaders abruptly pulled a bill intended to raise money for breast cancer from the floor Tuesday over concerns about abortion.

The bill would have created a pink gold commemorative coin to help fund breast cancer research. Heritage Action, an influential conservative group, urged Republicans earlier in the day to vote against the measure because they objected to money from the coin sales going toward the Susan G. Komen foundation, which has had ties to Planned Parenthood.

The bipartisan breast cancer research bill, which was authored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas), was slated for a vote Tuesday afternoon. But not enough Republicans were on board due to concerns about funding going toward abortions. Read more here.

NUNS NOT EXEMPT FROM BIRTH CONTROL MANDATE: A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that an order of Roman Catholic nuns must comply with ObamaCare’s birth control mandate, the likely end to a years-long battle over the rule.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th District ruled that Little Sisters of the Poor cannot receive a full exemption from the law’s contraception rules because they “do not substantially burden plaintiffs’ religious exercise or violate the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights.”

Under the contraception mandate, nonprofit religious groups such as Little Sisters of the Poor are permitted to opt out of the requirement if they report their concerns to their insurance companies or the federal government.

But that group and others have objected to any extra steps to obtain the exemption. Instead, they are seeking the same treatment as houses of worship, which are not required to fill out additional paperwork in order to avoid fines under the law. Read more here. 

Wednesday’s schedule:

House Democrats will hold a briefing to release a national report on hunger.

The House Committee of Agriculture holds a subcommittee hearing on food stamp programs.

State by state 

Arkansas governor calls in outside help for Medicaid eligibility checks 

Kasich asks: ‘Why would I back off’ Medicaid expansion?

What we’re reading

Medical device tax repeal has bipartisan support, but it’s going nowhere 

Making the cut: Why choosing a surgeon matters even more than you know   

Inhaled Ebola vaccine stops virus in monkeys, study finds 

What you might have missed from The Hill

Former Bush officials urge Senate to confirm Obama’s Medicare chief

Ex-Sen. Coburn: Congress ‘beats the crap’ out of FDA

Senate subcommittee advances $20.5B bill funding FDA 

Please send tips and comments to Sarah Ferris, sferris@digital-staging.thehill.com, and Peter Sullivan, psullivan@digital-staging.thehill.com. Follow on Twitter: @thehill, @sarahnferris, @PeterSullivan4