US healthcare bill collapses: Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is surrounded by reporters as he walks to the Senate floor of the U.S. Capitol after unveiling a draft bill on healthcare in Washington, U.S. June 22, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
In their seven-year quest to rescind the Affordable Care Act, the Senate Republicans on Tuesday openly admitted they lacked the requisite votes to ‘repeal and replace’ former President Barack Obama’s signature Obamacare health bill. A proposal to repeal major sections of the Obamacare law, quickly collapsed after three Republican senators came out in open against the move, saying it would potentially snatch away insurance coverage from millions of Americans. All three Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said they wouldn’t vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement.
Although the US Senate is expected to vote next week on the proceeding to a bill than revokes the Affordable Care Act without any replacement plan, the vote will likely fail as the three Senate Republicans have already made their opposition clear. To this effect, President Donald Trump has vowed that he will let Obamacare bill collapse even as he invited Senate Republicans to the White House to discuss the matter. In a series of tweets on Monday, Trump indicated how the Democrats will join in once a new healthcare plan is constituted: “As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned!”
In another tweet, he said: “Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in! The Senate must go to a 51 vote majority instead of current 60 votes. Even parts of full Repeal need 60. 8 Dems control Senate. Crazy.”
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer confirmed that the senators who went against the move have been invited to lunch to discuss the possible road ahead on health care. Speaking on the US Senate vote next week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was quoted by AFP as saying: “At the request of the president and vice president and after consulting with our members, we will have the vote on the motion to proceed to the Obamacare repeal bill early next week.”
McConnell’s latest statement comes after his move to repeal and replace Obamacare hit a wall as three senators opposed the move. It was clear on Tuesday that McConnel didn’t even have 50 votes to even consider a repeal of the bill. Even amid Republicans, there are several moderates who have expressed concern that the move will affect millions of American families, especially people on Medicaid. But it seems that McConnell will probably go ahead with a last-gasp vote to kill most of Obama’s 2010 reforms without a replacement.
The collapse of support for the Senate Republicans also exposes a stark reality: Although they openly attacked Obamacare health bill during Obama’s tenure as President, they themselves couldn’t come up with a working plan to undo it which would keep both conservative and moderate Republicans on the ship. This move also signals something more pertinent: It also indicates a huge embarassment for a party that rode to victory to first control the House, then the Senate and after that the White House, but hasn’t been able to push through a significant legislative victory.
“With only a very small majority, the Republicans in the House & Senate need more victories next year since Dems totally obstruct, no votes!” said Trump in a tweet.
The measure proposed by Senatre Republicans consists of a two-year delay, a move designed to give lawmakers sufficient time to devise an Obamacare replacement plan. A similar repeal was passed two years back but was vetoed by former President Barack Obama.
At that time, the Congressional Budget Office had warned that repealing Obamacare health bill would take a staggering 32 million American citizens off health care by 2026, as compared to current law.
In the meantime, the US dollar fell to a 10-month low in the face of Senate Republicans’ failure to overhaul or repal Obamacare healthcare bill that also raised fears for the rest of President Donald’s Trump reform agenda. The news rattled financial markets and casted doubts on the chances of getting Trump’s economic plans, such as tax reform and stimulus, through a divided Congress. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, edged up 0.2 percent to 94.780 after falling as low as 94.476 on Tuesday, its lowest level since September 2016.
