Can the GOP Salvage Its Health Care Bill? Some Experts Predict Crisis Comes First

WASHINGTON -- Despite the sharp divisions that sandbagged Republican efforts to overhaul Obamacare last month, many GOP leaders, including President Donald Trump, are holding onto hope that a deal can be reached when Congress returns from a two-week recess.“I think it can be passed. It should be passed,” said Rep. Joe Barton, a Republican from Arlington, in an interview this week.But while media reports suggest lawmakers are nearing compromise, some health care experts are skeptical, predicting Obamacare will reach crisis level before they expect Congress to act.There are such "fundamental divisions and dichotomies between the different branches of the Republican conference, you have to get a sense that if one isn’t a barrier to reaching an agreement, they’ll come up with another one that will work,” said Tom Miller, a resident fellow with the conservative American Enterprise Institute.Trump’s first pass at overhauling the Affordable Care Act collapsed in March when Speaker Paul Ryan withdrew his bill, the American Health Care Act, amid disagreements between conservative and moderates.  Continue reading...