42 Senators Warn House: Stripping O'Care Benefits Will Doom Bill

Forty-two senators, all Democrats and Independents, sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) Wednesday threatening to hold up any effort to eliminate Obamacare’s Essential Health Benefits (EHBs), which Republican leaders in the House promised members would be added to the Senate’s version of the bill. Obamacare’s EHBs require that insurance plans cover, among other things, pregnancy and maternity care, prescription drugs and pediatric services.

Republicans had previously speculated that benefits currently mandated by Obamacare, like birth control coverage, could be changed in the second or third “phases” of health care reform – that is, regulatory changes overseen by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, and additional legislation to be introduced in the future, respectively.

The senators, led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), said in a statement accompanying their letter that they had the votes to block any threat to Obamacare’s EHBs, in the current House reconciliation bill or legislation in the future.

“This letter clearly shows that there are enough votes to sustain a point of order on repealing essential health benefits if this provision is included in the House reconciliation bill, and to block a vote if this is considered as separate legislation,” they wrote.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/42-senators-letter-essential-health-benefit

I think this will ultimately be decided by the parliamentarian. Reconciliation is the most confusing process about this whole thing since they need to use it to unravel the ball of Obamacare yarn so they can proceed with changes.

BUT... that is the Senate's job - to sort of keep the rabble in the House on track.