Trump Sees No Vote on GOP Health Plan Until After 2020 Election

Republicans are looking to craft alternative to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act

President Trump said any vote on a Republican health plan would take place after the 2020 election, moving to put off action on legislation amid uncertainty about what a GOP replacement for the Affordable Care Act would look like.

In a series of tweets late Monday, Mr. Trump said that the vote on a new health plan “will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win back the House.”

Mr. Trump has been reaching out to Republican lawmakers to take the lead on crafting a health plan to replace the ACA, also known as Obamacare. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, want the administration to develop a plan while they remain on politically safer ground, working on popular voter issues such as lowering drug prices and ending surprise medical bills.

Mr. Trump’s announcement last week that the GOP would produce a health-care plan took Republicans by surprise. Although some GOP senators began discussions over various health-care bills, they don’t expect to reach a consensus or vote on any major health-care overhaul before the 2020 election, according to lawmakers and aides.

Most Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) have preferred to wait and see if the White House produces any plan of its own.

The GOP lost the House to Democrats in 2018 in part over voters’ concerns about health insurance, and any plan the president supports would face resistance in the Democratic-controlled House.

The administration put health care back in the spotlight last week when it asked a federal appeals court to invalidate former President Obama’s signature health act, sowing confusion over the next steps if the law is thrown out.