The Senate Republican leadership has decided to schedule a vote on a “motion to proceed” on the healthcare legislation for later this afternoon. Many observers view the decision by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to return to Washington to vote as a positive sign for those pushing to start debate on a healthcare bill. However, the outcome of the vote, which is basically on a motion to start debate on the issue, still remains up in there.
Category: Health/Medical
Senate Attempts to Move Forward on Healthcare
Later this week, including as soon as tomorrow, the Senate Republican leadership will attempt to move forward on its attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as they try to gather enough votes among Republicans to start floor debate on the issue. Complicating matters is the fact that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is still in Arizona recovering from surgery.
Another complication for the leadership is the lack of clarity on which underlying measure the members are voting on. As Republican Senators are being pushed to support a “motion to proceed” on a bill, there is no agreement on which bill would proceed if the vote were successful. No decision has been made on whether a measure to simply repeal Obamacare with a two-year delay or some version of repeal-and-replace bill would serve as the vehicle to start debate.
The outcome of the vote is uncertain at this point.
Repeal of ACA Would Lead to 32 Million More Uninsured
An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) of a Senate Republican plan to essentially repeal most of the current provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without a replacement shows that it would increase the number of uninsured individuals by 32 million by 2026.
The same CBO review projects that individual premiums would increase by 25 percent in 2018 and eventually double by 2026, relative to projections under current law.
Repeal Now, Replace Later?
Yesterday evening, two more Republican Senators– Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas– jointly announced their opposition to the Senate healthcare bill that was being push forward by the Republican leadership. Their statements increased the number of Senate Republicans opposing the bill to four, with Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky being the other two. With all Democrats opposed to the bill, the announcements from Lee and Moran have forced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to abandon his plans on the bill.
Last evening, Leader McConnell announced that, as a result, he will pursue a straight repeal of the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) with the repeal kicking in after two years to allow, in theory, lawmakers and the White House to draft and implement a new plan to prevent individuals from losing coverage. It remains to be seen how much support such a strategy has.
Senate Floor Action on Healthcare Bill Delayed
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced late Saturday that the Senate consideration of the revised healthcare legislation will be postponed. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) had a blood clot removed on Friday and is not expected to return to the Senate the week of July 17. With two members who have already publicly declared their opposition to the measure, the Senate Republicans have no votes to spare. Floor consideration of the bill will be delayed until Sen. McCain returns to Washington.