Trump Gets Healthy

I believe, having watched the President closely, that he has most of the things he wanted from the Obamacare overhaul in his pocket right now – and is STILL not comfortable.

He wants it all and he can taste it, it’s that close, and yet, so far.

First we need to look inside the President’s head and see what he WANTS from this Obamacare overhaul effort.

I believe his first priority is to win. I know it sounds ridiculous that people could forget that about Trump, and yet, they do. This is good information, if you understand how to use it, instead of complaining about it. Trump will pass a bill because he has to win, and that bill will settle his campaign promises, in the main — because that is part of his “winning” definition, say it, do it, that’s the American way — SO – understanding that he will win — Gives a huge advantage to the first meaningful group of legislators — willing to make the key compromises that get Trump to a win.

Trump’s number 2 objective is the opposite of the first, he wants a bipartisan win, He wants some Democrats from both Houses and he isn’t committing to the changes being pushed from the Freedom Caucus corner, right now anyway, because he wants that room to get a Democrat like Heitkamp on board.

Block grants or high risk pools — looks like an impossibility to reconcile. I say do both. Don’t let this block a win. Give the States the block grant freedom ($), this will get a bunch of Governors on board, and THEN let Ryan have his high-risk pools as well, you’ll need both of these things in the end anyway.

Tell the Freedom Caucus to accept the win of Block Grants and States Rights — and to suck it up, and ignore the fiscal note. Even those guys should understand that when it’s raining, you gotta spend a little on umbrella’s. They can all interview Gorsuch again in Williamsburg, that will make them feel better.

That leaves preexisting conditions, and the extension to age 26 for policy minors, both things Trump wanted, promised, and that Ryan, the fine wine, has in the bill now — and the final bill should have if Trump wins on all fronts.

For his final two moves, Trump will need to switch to 4D chess in order to checkmate the board. He wants broad powers to negotiate drug prices as a buyer for the government — but he doesn’t want a war with the pharmaceuticals to get it.

Somehow, someway, he gonna’s try to trade the Health Insurers freedom to operate over state boundaries, in a complex log roll, to get the drug pricing negotiation authority AND get everybody, meaning the Republicans and a handful of Democrats, to vote for it.

I predict he is just a few votes away of such a miracle right now — even though he won’t reveal it.