Republicans need concessions to back Democratic healthcare agenda

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(The Center Square) - Congressional Republicans will not help Democrats' priorities to reverse Medicaid cuts and restore healthcare subsidies without concessions, they said Tuesday.

Following a midterm election sweep by Democrats across the country, Democratic leaders are planning for healthcare reform to be a top priority for the incoming Congress.

Candidates focused their campaigns on reversing cuts to Medicaid through the One Big Beautiful Bill and returning Affordable Care Act subsidies that lapsed at the beginning of this year.

“When we talk about lowering costs, one is they got to have health insurance to begin with, and that was a combination from both the subsidies, the intentional act of not continuing with the ACA subsidies, but also with the nearly trillion dollars in Medicaid cuts that has a ripple effect for everybody else, including people with private health insurance, because premiums are going to go up because of that nearly $1 trillion cut,” U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., said at an event hosted Tuesday by Axios in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., said Republicans in Congress will push back on legislation to increase spending unless it includes concessions. He said additional funding for rural healthcare is necessary to lower costs in the future.

“I'd love to work with Democrats on creating a stepping stone to restore the cost sharing reduction, which was an Obamacare plan idea," Griffith said. "You get those people to be able to come out of government, pay for healthcare, and move into the marketplace, and it also helps them improve their job prospects."

Griffith argued Republicans did not do well on messaging about the new healthcare requirements in the One Big Beautiful Bill, which cost them on Election Day. Without a supermajority in either chamber, he acknowledged that Republicans will need to see intentional reform to support any reversal.

“If you put together a big package, then maybe yes, but you're going to have to give some things in order to get some things,” Griffith said. “Hopefully, we can do that in a bipartisan fashion in the next term.”

Ruiz also acknowledged the need for bipartisan work on healthcare issues, especially with President Donald Trump holding veto power. He stopped short of describing what issues congressional Democrats would compromise on with Trump.

“If the president's not going to sign it into law, then there's got to be a lot of give and take and some negotiation,” Ruiz said. “So we're going to have to cross that bridge when we get there.”

However, progressive Democrats in Congress are pushing for universal healthcare legislation.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., has pushed for a markup on universal healthcare legislation in the new Congress. However, Ruiz said he favors reinstating subsidies and reversing cuts rather than instituting a new healthcare system.

“Let's first take care of the patient, then let's figure out the chronic illnesses,” Ruiz said. “The chronic illnesses mean a complete reform of our healthcare system.”

Griffith argued that Americans want more transparency in the healthcare system, rather substantial reforms. He said addressing hospital price transparency, pharmaceutical drug reform and insurance costs are essential for the next Congress.

“We need to go in and figure out how can we make the system operate more efficiently. How can we make it more accessible? And how can we make it more affordable? Then, if we have to step in, we can cross that bridge when we get to it,” Griffith said.

Ruiz doubted transparency would address high healthcare costs. He called for greater interrogation of healthcare providers and insurance companies, especially as business mergers become more common.

“Transparency is good, but it's not going to lower healthcare costs,” Ruiz said. “We're just going to see that things cost a lot, but we can hold a magnifying glass to the insurance companies.”

Ruiz said he could see bipartisanship in Congress toward healthier food initiatives similar to those proposed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“There are some common grounds that we can find where we can focus on nutrition to improve health and use food as medicine,” Ruiz said.