Some Republicans, such as House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), still want to use reconciliation to change healthcare legislation, though the support for the strategy is waning, according to The Hill. Here are five things to know about reconciliation and how it could affect healthcare in the U.S.
1. Budget reconciliation allows for accelerated consideration of taxes, spending and federal debt limit legislation, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. To pass in the Senate, reconciliation bills only require a simple majority, rather than a three-fifths majority, because they aren't subject to filibuster.
2. After the Supreme Court upheld a major provision of the ACA in the King v. Burwell case, it reignited the debate between those who want to simply repeal the ACA and those who want to use a more strategic method to change the law, according to The Hill.
3. "We want to use reconciliation to go after ObamaCare," Rep. Ryan said Friday, according to The Hill. The reconciliation strategy is favored in the House.
4. However, some Republicans are interested in saving reconciliation for other policies like tax reform, according to The Hill. Spending, revenues and debt limit are the three basic subjects that can be considered in a reconciliation bill, either together in one bill or in multiple bills, but each subject can only be considered once per year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
5. The budget resolution sets the reconciliation instruction deadline at July 24. However, some lawmakers have said this deadline doesn't matter and Congress has until the end of this session in 2016 to pass a reconciliation bill, according to Politico.
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