US Republicans revise healthcare bill for the benefit of the elderly

House Speaker Paul Ryan said the US House Republicans are working on changes to the healthcare overhaul bill for the benefit of older Americans. They are also working on adding a work requirement for the Medicaid program.

"We think we should be offering even more assistance than the bill currently does for lower-income people age 50 to 64,” Ryan said. He also shared that Republicans aim to allow federal block grants to states for Medicaid, and that he is confident about the American Health Care Act.

The Republican leaders are still planning to present the healthcare bill to a vote on the House of Representatives on March 16. The top Republican in Congress told "Fox News Sunday" that leaders seek to address concerns of rank-and-file Republicans to the legislation.

The healthcare overhaul is the major legislative initiative of US President Donald Trump. It seeks to fulfil his promise during the 2016 presidential campaign to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, more popularly known as Obamacare, by former US President Barack Obama.

Democrats believe that the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare can hurt the elderly Americans, as well as poor and working families. Republicans, on the other hand, are divided over the healthcare haul.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas believes that the bill would not lessen premiums for people on the private insurance market. “It's fixable, but it's going to take a lot of work," he said on CNN's "State of the Union."

Senator Susan Collins of Maine told “Meet the Press” that the Obamacare replacement would leave 14 million people without health coverage over the next year and 24 million over the next decade. She also expressed concerns of how the new proposal would hurt the elderly. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said last month that there is a big chance that they would keep the Affordable Care Act.

The BlueCross BlueShield Association stressed that the Obamacare replacement must be affordable. The association represents insurers that cover the majority of the 10 million Americans enrolled in the 2017 Obamacare plans.

Meanwhile, the president said he had meetings about healthcare reform in Florida during the weekend. Trump also told reporters that the effort to sell his major legislative initiative is going well. Reuters reports that he will meet with Ezekiel Emanuel, a health policy special adviser under Obama along with Ryan and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.