Re: 7/27/17 Letter-McCain's votes count more than his words

Rick Owen
11:06, Jul 28, 2017
Copyright 2015 All rights reserved. This material can't be published, transferred, copied or redistributed.
Copyright 2015 All rights reserved. This material can't be published, transferred, copied or redistributed.

Senate Republican leaders said the bill was simply a way to keep alive the seven-year promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, which was also a top campaign promise from President Donald Trump.

If Senate Republicans are asked that question today about their own bill partially to repeal and replace Obamacare, their answer will be "No".

This is a Republican amendment but it's really a record to get Democrats on the record for or against a "single payer" health care plan.

Republican senators have been deliberating on the amendments to reach an ultimate deal on health care reform and dismantle Obamacare.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was hoping to push a modest bill through the Senate peeling back pieces of President Barack Obama's health care law.

That proposal would significantly gut the Affordable Care Act by repealing its unpopular individual and employer mandates, ending Medicaid expansion and rolling back a slew of the law's taxes.

The Congressional Budget Office said last week that the repeal-only legislation would increase the number of people who are uninsured by 17 million next year and by 32 million in 2026 compared with current law.

Three GOP senators had already announced they wouldn't support repeal-only.

That came after an amended version of a repeal-and-replace bill was shot down Tuesday night in a 57-43 vote, with nine Republicans opposing it.

Even if Senate Republicans pass a bare-bones bill and try to revive a bigger health care bill in negotiations with the House, the parliamentarian's finding could make it harder to resuscitate any kind of regulation rollback in those talks.

The legislation repeals a 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device sales, until December 31, 2020.

GOP senator is latest to oppose health bill
The bill also scales back federal funding for Medicaid - which is more than half the spending for the program at the state level. The Senate bill maintains much of the structure of the House bill but differs in key ways.

After the bill's failure, Schumer told the Senate that it was time to heed McCain's call this week to return to a more transparent and bipartisan legislative process.

With several centrist Republicans evidently determined to stop any significant reform to Medicaid-Dean Heller (NV), Shelley Moore Capito (WV), Rob Portman (OH), and Lisa Murkowski (AK)-scaling back Obamacare's grossly irresponsible expansion is nearly certainly beyond hope.

The repeal idea drew widespread criticism after the CBO estimate was released.

While Paul says he is willing to compromise, he stated that he wants, at minimum, a guarantee of "one vote on what conservatives promised, which was a clean repeal of Obamacare".

Udall said he found just one consistency in the Republican efforts to repeal the nation's health care plan:.

It cuts federal funding to places that provide abortions, including Planned Parenthood, for a year.

What is the "skinny repeal?".

It is also a test of how Republicans govern, now that they control Congress and the White House. If it does become law, a "death spiral" could begin - which means that without a mandate to buy insurance, younger people who tend to be healthier will drop their insurance, keeping sicker people in the market and then premiums go up because their costs are higher.

"I'm not going to vote for a figment of hope and I'm not going to tell people back in SC this replaces Obamacare", he said, adding, "I'm not the bad guy here".

Republicans, deeply divided over the proper role of the government in helping low-income people receive healthcare, eked out a procedural win yesterday when the Senate voted 51-50, with Vice-President Mike Pence breaking the tie, to allow debate to start on legislation. "I'm for #Repeal and Replace and we're going to continue to work on a replacement", Rob Portman of OH said. That proposal would have allowed insurers that sell Obamacare policies to also offer plans that don't adhere to all of the law's rules, including those that protect people with pre-existing conditions.

As a ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, Bernie Sanders and his staff have been working tooth and nail to undermine Senate Republicans' efforts to pass the Better Care Reconciliation Act with a simple majority.

Copyright 2015 All rights reserved. This material can't be published, transferred, copied or redistributed.


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