Trump makes push on health bill; repeal-only vote an option

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is making a weekend push to get a Republican Senate bill to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's health care law "across the finish line," Trump's top legislative aide said Sunday, maintaining that a repeal-only option also remained in play if Republicans can't reach agreement.

Republicans returned to their home districts late last week, bracing for a flood of phone calls, emails and television advertising from both conservative and liberal groups aimed at pressuring senators.

Sen. Bill Cassidy held a town hall meeting last Friday to talk about flood recovery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana's capital city, but audience members angry over the GOP health care bill at times chanted over Cassidy's answers and criticized the secretive legislative process.

Trump's suggestion had the potential to harden divisions within the GOP as conservatives complain that McConnell's bill does not go far enough in repealing Obama's health care law while moderates criticize it as overly harsh in kicking people off insurance rolls, shrinking the Medicaid safety net and increasing premiums for older Americans.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said negotiations over the Senate bill were focusing on ways to address the issue of Medicaid coverage so that "nobody falls through the cracks," combating the opioid crisis, as well as giving families more choice in selecting their insurance plan.

[...] at least eight GOP senators expressed opposition after a Congressional Budget Office last week found that McConnell's draft bill would result in 22 million people losing insurance over the next decade, only 1 million fewer than under the House-passed legislation that Trump privately told senators was "mean."