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No healthcare vote this week, House Speaker Paul Ryan says

Republicans to concentrate on passing a spending bill prior to government shutdown Friday.

Susan Morse, Executive Editor

House Speaker Paul Ryan has told GOP lawmakers to expect no vote this week on a new healthcare bill, according to the Washington Examiner.

When lawmakers return from a two-week recess on Tuesday they will be focused on passing a spending bill prior to the Friday, April 28 deadline for a government shutdown, Ryan said. The Appropriations Committee could extend the spending measure deadline by a week.

Talks are continuing between conservatives and moderates within the GOP to reach a healthcare deal that can get passed, Ryan reportedly said Saturday.  Ryan pulled an earlier bill, the American Health Care Act, in late March when it became clear he didn't have the votes within his own party to pass it.

[Also: Paul Ryan delays American Health Care Act vote amid mixed GOP support]

An amended bill, or new bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would likely be going to a vote closer to the end of May, according to the published report.

What the delay means for insurers facing, at the latest, a June deadline to file premium rates for the 2018 ACA marketplace is unclear. Insurers have yet to have a guarantee that federal cost-sharing reduction payments will continue, even after executives met with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma last week.

[Also: Insurers tell Seema Verma number one concern is cost-sharing reduction payments]

Insurance groups, such as America's Health Insurance Plans, state insurance commissioners and other healthcare organizations, have written letters to President Trump, Ryan and other congressional leaders urging them to guarantee continuing cost-sharing reduction payments needed to stabilize the market.

Ryan said after the failed AHCA that the payments that help insurers subsidize coverage for low-income consumers would continue, but Trump has used the threat of removing CSRs to get Democrats to the negotiating table on a new healthcare plan.

Twitter: @SusanJMorse