Overnight Healthcare: Trump wants quick ObamaCare replacement

President-elect Donald Trump is calling on congressional Republicans to replace ObamaCare “very shortly” after they vote to repeal the law.

His comments to The New York Times will put pressure on House Republicans to curtail their plans to leave ObamaCare in place for a transition period as long as four years, as some have advocated. But they also raise pressure on the GOP to act on ObamaCare’s initial repeal quickly, which some members have resisted.

Trump maintained that ObamaCare must be repealed, but replaced “very quickly,” according to the Times.

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“Long to me would be weeks,” Trump said of how long it should take to pass a replacement. “It won’t be repeal and then two years later go in with another plan.”

“We have to get to business. ObamaCare has been a catastrophic event,” the president-elect said.

Trump told the Times the replacement bill should come “very shortly thereafter” when Congress votes for repeal. He also suggested Democrats might work with Republicans on a replacement bill.

“I feel that repeal and replace have to be together, for very simply, I think that the Democrats should want to fix ObamaCare. They cannot live with it, and they have to go together.”

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2iaikIV

Ryan: GOP’s goal is to replace, repeal ObamaCare ‘concurrently’

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said on Tuesday that some elements required to replace ObamaCare could be included in the earlier process to repeal the healthcare law.

Ryan, however, didn’t identify specific elements or get into other details of how that process would work.

The Speaker’s comments come as GOP leaders are facing enormous pressure from President-elect Donald Trump, centrist Republicans and conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus to tackle the repeal and replacement of ObamaCare simultaneously.

“It is our goal to bring it all together concurrently,” Ryan told reporters after meeting with House Republicans behind closed doors.

“We’re going to use every tool at our disposal through legislation, through regulation, to bring replace concurrent along with repeal, so that we can save people from this mess.”

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2i9RErn

ObamaCare enrollment hits 11.5 million for 2017

More than 11.5 million people were signed up for health insurance through the ObamaCare marketplace as of Dec. 24, 2016, an increase of 286,000 from the same period in 2015, according to a new report released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Additionally, more than 700,000 people in New York and Minnesota have signed up for healthcare through their states’ Basic Health Programs, which serve low-income residents who are eligible for marketplace plans but may have difficulty affording it.

The new numbers fall below HHS’s projection for open enrollment, though there are still two and a half weeks left in the enrollment period.

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2iYTHvB

Trump team denies vaccine skeptic asked to lead vaccination study

Donald Trump’s team is denying claims from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a noted vaccine skeptic, that the president-elect asked him to chair a commission investigating vaccine safety.

“The President-elect enjoyed his discussion with Robert Kennedy Jr. on a range of issues and appreciates his thoughts and ideas. The President-elect is exploring the possibility of forming a committee on Autism, which affects many families; however no decisions have been made at this time. The President-elect looks forward to continuing the discussion about all aspects of Autism with many groups and individuals,” according to a Trump team statement.

Kennedy, after a meeting with Trump on Tuesday, had told reporters he would be heading a panel on the safety of vaccinations. “He asked me to chair a commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity … I said I would,” he told reporters in the Trump Tower lobby.

Kennedy is a vocal critic of vaccines and regularly expresses concerns that certain preservatives in vaccines could cause developmental disorders or other negative side effects. 

Scientists have repeatedly shot down any accusations about a link between vaccines and developmental disorders like autism, noting that there are various safeguards to ensure vaccines aren’t dangerous. 

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2jfHH8M

What we’re reading

Muted response from health lobby as Affordable Care Act faces repeal (New York Times)

Smoking costs the world economy $1 trillion per year (Washington Post)

Dems and their allies won’t let ObamaCare go down without a fight (LA Times)

State by state

As ObamaCare repeal heats up, newly insured North Carolinians fret (NPR)

Iowa governor supports bill to defund Planned Parenthood (AP)

Send tips and comments to Jessie Hellmann, jhellmann@digital-staging.thehill.com, and Peter Sullivan, psullivan@digital-staging.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @thehill, @jessiehellmann, @PeterSullivan4