Senate Republicans failed to pass legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care at the end of July. After voting to proceed with debate on the American Health Care Act, which was passed by the House in May, the Senate introduced and voted against several replacement amendments and bills, including a new version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act, with amendments by Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rob Portman (R-OH), and the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act.
Last week, Senate Republicans unveiled draft legislation to move toward repealing portions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The draft health care bill, known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act, was hatched behind closed doors without public committee hearings or debate, in response to concerns raised by the House’s American Health Care Act (AHCA), which passed by the slimmest of margins on May 4, 2017. The bill faces an uphill battle as several Republican senators have already come out in opposition to the draft bill, conservatives have criticized the bill not going far enough to repeal the ACA and moderates are uneasy about the impact severe cutbacks to the Medicaid system will have on their constituents. Senator Mitch McConnell has vowed to bring the draft bill to a vote this week before Congress recesses for the Fourth of July holiday.
On Thursday, May 4, 2017, the US House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act by the slimmest of margins with no Democrats voting in favor of the bill. Amendments to the original bill attracted more support from both moderate and conservative Republicans by the introduction of two amendments: one that gives more leeway to the states to request waivers from the more onerous provisions of the ACA that cannot be changed through the budget reconciliation process, and a second one that adds $8 billion of funding to the bill to help improve the “high-risk pools” that could be set up by states to provide coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions who cannot find affordable insurance in the open market.
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