SENATE STRUGGLES TO REVIVE HEALTHCARE REPEAL—WITH NO REPLACEMENT PLAN

By Miriam Raftery

July 25, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – By a slim one-vote margin, Republicans in the Senate voted to open debate on repealing and replacing Obamacare. Senator John McCain flew back from Arizona after brain cancer surgery to vote in favor, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote to open debate. But then the bill to gut healthcare for millions of Americans, while granting tax breaks to the wealthy, failed passage.

That plan, called the Better Care Reconciliation Act, needed 60 votes to pass, instead of a mere 51 vote majority, since the proposal authored by Senator Ted Cruz had not been scored by the Congressional Budget Office.  It would have allowed insurance companies to sell bare bones minimum policies that could exclude coverage for maternity care, cancer treatments and more – items that Obamacare required to be covered.

But plans to repeal Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, aren’t dead yet. 

Next up, Senate Republicans plan to vote on repealing Obamacare without any replacement, though the repeal would be delayed two years, during which time the Republicans say they will come up with a replacement plan despite thus far being divided between conservative and moderate wings of the party. 

All Democrats have stood united against any repeal and three Republican women legislators have said they, too, will oppose the repeal and delay tactic, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates would leave 32 million people without health insurance – even more than the plans previously proposed.  Additional amendments may also be considered.

With no replacement plan in site, taking a scalpel to excise healthcare coverage for millions of Americans looms as a critical issue sure to dominate the 2018 campaign for those Senators up for reelection, as well as the entire House of Representatives, which faces reelection every two years.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has said that if Congress does not vote to repeal, he will “let Obamacare fail.”  His administration has taken active steps to undermine the Affordable Care Act, eliminating certain reimbursement provisions for insurance companies, ordering the IRS not to enforce penalties for those who ignore mandates for coverage, and cancelling ads informing Americans how to sign up for Affordable Care Act policies before the next enrollment deadline.