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republican healthcare bill

In a major step forward for President Donald Trump’s attempts to repeal ObamaCare, the Senate has voted to start debating a new Republican healthcare bill.

In a tight vote, several Republicans previously opposed to aspects of the plan changed their minds.

Prior attempts to replace ObamaCare have collapsed in recent weeks due to divisions in the GOP.

President Donald Trump had made scrapping the policy a key campaign pledge.

On July 25, the Senate began the debate-and-vote process which is expected to last a number of days. Nine Republicans voted against the first amendment – to repeal and replace ObamaCare – and it failed to pass.

Earlier, President Trump had warned GOP’s senators of the repercussions of not pushing through the measures to repeal and replace ObamaCare, known formally as the Affordable Care Act.

Image source Wikimedia

ObamaCare Repeal: President Trump Asks GOP Senators to Stand Behind Their Bill

The GOP, which needed a majority for the motion to go ahead, secured 51 votes after Vice-President Mike Pence cast a tie-breaker in support of the legislation.

Senator John McCain, who was recently diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor, received a standing ovation as he returned to Congress to cast his “Yes” vote.

Donald Trump tweeted his thanks to the Arizona senator for playing “such a vital role” in the vote: “Congrats to all Rep. We can now deliver grt [great] healthcare to all Americans.”

It remains unclear what measure senators will now debate and vote on.

There appear to be two choices – either a repeal-and-replace bill that has already struggled to win support across the party, or a bill that enacts repeal with a two-year delay, in the hope of finding agreement before that time elapses.

However, senators have also considered a “skinny bill”, a far narrower measure that would scale back some of the more controversial elements in an effort to get a wider consensus.

Republicans have long railed against ObamaCare as government overreach, criticizing the system for introducing government-run marketplaces, where premiums have risen sharply for some people.

The GOP’s proposed alternative includes steep cuts to Medicaid, a healthcare program for the poor and disabled.

It removes ObamaCare’s individual mandate requiring all Americans to have health insurance or pay a tax penalty.

About 20 million people gained health insurance under former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

The non-partisan Congressional Budgetary Office (CBO) found the bill would strip 22 million Americans of health insurance over the next decade.

If Republican senators elect to repeal key provisions of ObamaCare without immediately replacing it, the CBO estimates about 32 million consumers would lose insurance over the next 10 years.

In a rare healthcare speech, President Donald Trump has issued a challenge to Republican senators to rally behind their bill, on the eve of a crucial vote.

“Now is the time for action,” he said.

A procedural vote is due on July 25 as Republicans push forward in their attempt to repeal ObamaCare, President Barack Obama’s signature law.

However, among Republicans there is confusion about the bill and it is unclear whether the healthcare will pass.

Senator Ron Johnson told reporters: “I don’t have a clue what we’re going to be voting on.”

Senators will vote on a procedural motion to start debate on a health care bill.

Republicans have a majority in the Senate but there are deep divisions in their party on the issue.

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor: “Many of us have waited literally years for this moment to arrive and, at long last, it finally has.”

Donald Trump: “Let ObamaCare Die on Its Own”

ObamaCare Replacement: Republican Efforts to Find Alternative Fail

However, several senators have expressed unhappiness over the process, because it is not clear what they will vote on if the procedure vote passes.

There appear to be two choices – either a repeal-and-replace bill that has already struggled to win support across the party, or a bill that enacts repeal with a two-year delay, in the hope of finding agreement before that time elapses.

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Senator John McCain, recently diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor, will return to Congress to cast his vote.

President Trump increased the pressure on his party by warning them they had a duty to adhere to seven years of promises.

In a White House speech laced with frustration, he said: “To every member of the Senate I say this: The American people have waited long enough.

“There’s been enough talk, and no action. Now is the time for action.”

ObamaCare Repeal Bill: Some 22 Million Americans Could Lose Health Insurance over Next Decade

The president lambasted his predecessor’s overhaul of healthcare and stood alongside people he said were “victims” of the 2010 law.

ObamaCare extended healthcare insurance to about 20 million people but Republicans hate the way it introduced government-run marketplaces, where premiums have risen sharply for some people.

The GOP’s proposed alternative includes steep cuts to Medicaid, a healthcare program for the poor and disabled.

It removes ObamaCare’s individual mandate requiring all Americans to have health insurance or pay a tax penalty.

The non-partisan Congressional Budgetary Office (CBO) found the bill would strip 22 million Americans of health insurance over the next decade.

However, if the bill gets to the floor of the Senate, amendments could be added to change the various provisions.

A Republican politician has blamed “female senators” for the spluttering efforts by his party to pass a healthcare bill.

Blake Farenthold, a congressman from Texas, told a local radio station if a man from his state was responsible, he would challenge him to a duel.

“Some of the people that are opposed to this, they’re some female senators from the North East.”

If it was “a guy from south Texas” who was generating so much discord in the party, he said, he would ask them to settle their differences in a gun fight.

Susan Collins of Maine was one of three female Republicans who said they could not back the Senate’s last healthcare plan, a repeal with two-year delay, which hit the buffers last week.

She has been strongly opposed to the Republican bill from the start over the cuts to Medicaid.

Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Shelly Moore Capito of West Virginia also came out against the bill, expressing concerns over plans to weaken protections for people with pre-existing conditions and affordability.

There was an outcry when Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell drafted the first healthcare bill in private among a group of 13 that did not include any women.

President Donald Trump has set March 24 ultimatum for the vote on the new health care bill in the House of Representatives.

The American Healthcare Act is intended to replace parts of President Barack Obama’s signature law, ObamaCare.

However, March 23 vote was delayed because of opposition from some Republicans – despite President Trump’s repeated attempts to persuade them to back the legislature.

The president now says he wants to move on and vote – whatever the result on March 24.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said this was exactly the message delivered to Republican lawmakers at a meeting behind closed doors on March 23.

Image source Wikipedia

House Speaker Paul Ryan said: “For seven-and-a-half years we have been promising the American people that we will repeal and replace this broken law because it’s collapsing and it’s failing families, and tomorrow we’re proceeding.”

Meanwhile, New York’s Republican representative Chris Collins said: “The president has said he wants a vote tomorrow, up or down.

“If for any reason it is down, we are just going to move forward with additional parts of his agenda.”

Repealing and replacing ObamaCare was a major plank of Donald Trump’s election campaign.

March 23 vote postponement is a setback for the president who had insisted he would win the numbers to pass it through the lower chamber of Congress on that day.

Earlier on March 23, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said President Trump had made a “rookie’s error for bringing this up on a day when clearly you’re not ready”.

The healthcare bill needs 215 votes to pass but ran into opposition mainly from conservative Republicans who believed it did not roll back enough of Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

ObamaCare helped 20 million previously uninsured Americans get health insurance but has been plagued by increases in insurance premiums, which were also a problem before the health law.

Donald Trump promised a new law that would cover more people and at a lower cost.

The Republican bill keeps some of the popular elements of ObamaCare but limits future federal funding for Medicaid, which covers low-income people.

A new estimate by the Congressional Budget Office released on March 23 said recent changes to the bill would make it costlier than previously thought.

The number of uninsured Americans would rise to 24 million by 2026 under the new law, the budget analysis said.

Groups representing doctors, hospitals and the elderly have said they are opposed to the Republican bill.