A late-night meeting with Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials on healthcare reform was a "positive, thoughtful discussion" on how improvements can be reached, even if no conclusions were reached, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said Wednesday.
"Our first focus was, can you lower premiums over the next several years for those trapped in Obamacare?" Brady told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "Can you preserve patient protections but give states more accountability on how they design it to lower healthcare costs? Every state is unique. That is where most of the discussion was."
The participants "didn't get into the specifics, necessarily, or reach a conclusion," said Brady, who thinks there is no need to rush to reach a consensus.
"Let's work through the policy and politics, and get through the weird Senate rules that dictate most of healthcare, unfortunately," Brady said. "Let's do it right. This is really important, especially when you are dealing with how can you lower healthcare cost for Americans, those trapped in Obamacare and those freeing from Obamacare in the future."
There is also no question reform would reduce the deficit, Brady said, which could alleviate worries on the Senate end.
"Senate rules are hard to interpret from the House side," Brady said. "It is important to deliver the best to the Senate . . . let's take this step by step. Let's deliver the very best products."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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