We Are Better People Than This
Dear Friends & Neighbors,
caring for pregnancy (photo by Tomasz Kobosz, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
On Tuesday, the Senate voted narrowly (50-51) to begin debate on a bill to partially repeal and replace major provisions of the current Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), but hours later Republican leaders suffered a setback in attempting to replace the Obamacare, falling short of the votes it needed. The Tuesday night tally, with 43(R)-57(9R+48D), way below the 60 votes it needed to overcome parliamentary objection. The comprehensive replacement plan came up short of even 50 votes is an ominous sign for Republican leaders searching for the formula to pass final health care legislation this week.
- Passed on Tuesday-Motion to proceed-allows Senate to begin debate on a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
- In Progress-20 Hours of Debate-Amendments can be introduced and voted on. One of the three major proposals failed to pass the Senate on Tuesday night.
- Later-Vote-a-rama-Senators will vote on dozens of amendments introduced by both parties, leading up to a final bill.
I. Repeal and Replace
- The revised version of the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act includes the Cruz amendment that allows insurers to sell plans that do not comply with some current insurance regulations, as long as they also offer a set of plans that do. Insurers would be able to deny coverage to customers with a history of health problems. It also keeps in place two taxes on high-income earners that were eliminated in earlier versions, and adds new state stability funding to be devoted to cost-sharing reduction.
- The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) has not yet issued a score for the version with the Cruz amendment, but under the two other versions that have been scored, about 50 million people will be uninsured in 2026 (22 million more than under the current Obamacare), with those under Medicaid being the largest affected group.
- There is a hitch: because Congress is trying to pass this bill using a special budget process, needing to comply with certain rules. The Senate parliamentarian has said that some parts of this bill are in violation of budget rules. Other parts cannot be evaluated until the CBO provides a score.
- The bottom line is that the bill still needs 60 votes to pass. So far, none of the Democrats supported the bill and nine Republicans also voted against it.
II. Partial Repeal
- Obamacare Repeal and Reconciliation Act: this version repeals the coverage provisions in the Affordable Care Act, including the individual mandate, Medicaid expansion and premium subsidies, but leaves in place insurance market reforms like ensuring a base level of coverage.
- The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) reports that about 32 million more people will be without health insurance than under the Obamacare.
III.Repeal of Individual and Employer Mandates and Medical Device Tax (aka Skinny Repeal)
- This version will essentially eliminate the last popular parts of the Affordable Care Act, but will make no changes to the Medicaid program.
- This bill has not yet been scored by CBO, but the CBO said that repealing the individual mandate will have substantial negative effects on the insurance market. Insurance premiums and number of uninsured would increase.
- It is softer on Medicaid.
- It is a clean repeal of some Obamacare provisions.
Below, are reactions from the American people from all over the country regarding this attempt in repealing Affordable Care Act:
If the Republican passes this bill, Trumpcare, one may anticipate tremendous loss of Republican seats during the mid-term election of 2018. It is time for democracy in action, Revolution Without Bloodshed.
Photographed, gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
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