Rep. Aaron Bean calls health care policy debate as GOP Obamacare plans falter: ‘No consensus’

WASHINGTON — A key architect of one of the GOP proposals to replace the now-expired Obamacare funding has complained that progress has stalled because of a lack of consensus among Republican lawmakers.

Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) hopes to help encourage Republicans to get health care reform talks back on track by convening a series of discussions and debates among health care policy thinkers he calls the “Road to Consensus Series.”

“We have a lot [of ideas]. We have a few things, but there’s no consensus on where we’re going,” Bean told The Post about the GOP’s efforts to address the problem of improved Obamacare funding.

“My crystal ball says Obamacare is here to stay,” he added, while noting that he believes the plan is deeply flawed. “We know it’s not affordable, sustainable, or in the long-term interest of the people because it doesn’t give us the best results.”

Last year, Bean met with Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) to pass the Affordable Care Act (MACA), which would take federal health funding and put it into “Trump Health Freedom Accounts” for Americans to use as they wish, except for abortion or sex reassignment procedures.

At the time, there were many competing proposals, including measures that would have only transferred funding from the enhanced Obamacare funding.

But Republicans differed on the details and could not come up with anything that would remove the 60-vote limit in the Senate, which would require Democratic support.

Democrats used a record 43-day government shutdown last year to pressure Republicans to extend the enhanced Obamacare Premium Tax Credits — worth about $30 billion a year — and used in the 2022 Depreciation Act. They started working only three years ago.

That pressure campaign failed to get any significant concessions from Republicans, but it raised the issue of health care and prompted the GOP to discuss reform ideas.

Bean believes the ingredients for a successful health care reform program will be “choice” for consumers.

“Consumers should have a say in what they buy and what they do, and there should be competition. Without those two things, we’re going to be wrong,” said Bean, who said that’s what Americans are getting now.

“We’re going to have a shock attached to whether you’re on Obamacare or not … everybody’s up on almost everything.”

Bean hosted one episode of his “Path to Consensus Series” last year to talk about the expanded funding for Obamacare, which he described as a “heavyweight slugfest.”

Last Thursday, he convened a second session with a spirited discussion about two health care policy issues: The 340B Drug Pricing Program requires and site neutrality. He organized the dialogue without taking a firm stand on either issue.

The 340B program requires certain drug manufacturers to offer discounts to hospitals and health care providers who care for a disproportionate number of people who cannot afford their treatment. Critics argue that those hospitals often mark up and sell those drugs for a profit.

Site neutrality is when Medicare will pay the same price for a service provided regardless of where it is performed, rather than having different rates between hospitals and doctor’s offices. Some estimates say it could save $157 billion over a decade, but critics say it could be a financial disaster for hospitals.

“Let’s express good ideas, express things as we build consensus on a health care system that we can afford,” she said.

While talks on health care stalled, GOP leadership looked to the Senate reconciliation process, the legislative process that followed last year to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill, to enact some form of health care reform.

But that effort ran into difficulties, with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) telling reporters last year, “I don’t see a second reconciliation ever going to pass.”

Additionally, Republicans will have to find consensus on health care policy, which they have so far proven lacking.

“I would like to do the second part of reconciliation. You have to thread the needle,” Bean said, referring to the House GOP majority. “You can lose one [Republican]. If you lose two, it fails. So the bar is very, very high. “