Overnight Healthcare: Senate Republicans eye repeal vote next week | Pence endorses repeal and delay | Cruz-Lee proposal hinges on budget score

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said on Monday that Senate Republicans want to roll out a new draft of their bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare as soon as this week, with a vote next week.

“We’re just trying to get a good picture of what the alternatives are, and hopefully next week we’ll be prepared to take the bill up and vote on it,” the No. 2 Senate Republican told reporters.

He added that Republicans are still waiting to hear back from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) but could release an updated draft of their bill by the end of the week.

Cornyn’s comments come as Senate GOP leadership scrambles to figure out a way forward on its bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare. The Texas Republican pushed back against suggestions that they cancel the August recess or delay leaving town at the end of July.

Read more here.

Senate GOP to get briefing on healthcare bill changes Tuesday

Senate Republicans are scheduled to get updated on legislation repealing and replacing ObamaCare during a closed-door caucus meeting on Tuesday.

“We’re supposed to find out more at lunch,” GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) told reporters, after saying she wasn’t able to comment on any changes made to the bill during the July 4 recess.

Leadership is hoping to unveil a new draft by the end of the week, setting up a vote for next week. 

A GOP aide separately confirmed that senators are expected to be briefed on revisions that have been made to the bill at Tuesday’s lunch.

Read more here.

Pence endorses repeal and delay strategy on ObamaCare

Vice President Pence on Monday said congressional Republicans should pass a “repeal only” bill if they can’t come to a consensus on legislation to replace ObamaCare.

{mosads}”If they can’t pass this carefully crafted repeal and replace bill — do those two things simultaneously — we ought to just repeal only,” Pence said in an interview with Rush Limbaugh.

Pence’s comments echoed those made by President Trump, who last month suggested that he was open to repealing ObamaCare first and developing a replacement plan later.

“If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!” Trump tweeted on June 30.

Read more here.

GOP: Cruz-Lee proposal hinges on budget score

Senate Republican leaders say whether they make a controversial conservative change to their healthcare bill depends on the results of an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office.

The proposal from Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), which is key to winning their support, is currently being analyzed by the CBO.

“I think it’s going to depend entirely — I think a lot of it is going to depend on how CBO evaluates it,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 3 Senate Republican, told reporters Monday evening after a leadership meeting.

The proposal would allow insurers to offer plans that do not meet ObamaCare regulations as long as they also offer a plan that does. Cruz and Lee argue it would increase choices for consumers and allow younger and healthier people to buy cheaper plans.

Read more here.

Dems to McConnell: Work with us to stabilize health insurance market

Top Senate Democrats are urging Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to take up legislation stabilizing the healthcare insurance market after the Kentucky Republican warned senators would need to act if the GOP’s ObamaCare repeal bill fails.

Sens. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Patty Murray (Wash.) and Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) — the top four Democrats in the Senate — sent McConnell a letter on Monday asking him to “focus on immediately advancing policies” to stabilize the market.

“We stand ready to work on … reforms to the current system and urge you to join us in advancing measures that would have an immediate impact on improving the health care system for American families,” they wrote.

Read more here.

What we’re reading

Desperate opioid users are pawns in lucrative insurance fraud scheme (Stat News)

Senate GOP effort to shield disabled from Medicaid changes would leave many kids on the outside (Washington Post)

Survey says: Medicaid recipients really like their coverage and care (NPR)

Drugmakers’ Money-Back Guarantees: an Answer to Rising Prices or a ‘Carnival Game’? (Pro Publica)

State by state

Maine family will visit DC to fight for Medicaid (WBUR)

Wyoming, 18 other states, would receive $727 B less in Medicaid money than other states under GOP health bill (Casper Star Tribune)

Sanders visits Kentucky to rally opposition to GOP health bill (register-herald.com)

Send tips and comments to Jessie Hellmann, jhellmann@digital-staging.thehill.com; Peter Sullivan, psullivan@digital-staging.thehill.com; Rachel Roubein, rroubein@digital-staging.thehill.com; and Nathaniel Weixel, nweixel@digital-staging.thehill.com.