Trump failed to kick Obamacare, US Senate rejected

8 years ago - Published in Finance, Fundamental Analysis

Dealing a serious blow to President Donald Trump's agenda, the Senate early Friday rejected a measure to repeal parts of former President Barack Obama's health care law after a night of high suspense in the U.S. Capitol. Senate Republicans failed to pass their pared-down Obamacare repeal bill on vote of 49-51 in a dramatic late night vote that caps a months-long process of trying to fulfill a seven-year promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Unable to pass even a so-called "skinny repeal," it was unclear if Senate Republicans could advance any health bill despite seven years of promises to repeal "Obamacare." Three Republicans voted against the measure: Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. All Democrats and independents voted against it too.

“3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down,” Trump tweeted, referring to the 49-51 vote in the dead of night on a controversial plan that would have partially dismantled the Affordable Care Act.

“As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal,” the President said.

A key vote to defeat the measure was cast by Sen. John McCain, who returned to the Senate this week after receiving a diagnosis of brain cancer. In an impassioned speech the day he returned, McCain had called for bipartisanship on major issues of national concern, and a return to the "regular order" of legislating by committee.

Senate Republicans decided to vote on the pared-down proposal to repeal portions of Obamacare after failing to reach consensus on a more comprehensive measure since the US House of Representatives approved their bill in May.

In the rushed process of trying to come up with legislation, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released an analysis lat on Thursday night, which found that 16 million people would lose their health insurance in 2018 under the latest plan. Premiums would have risen 20 percent each year over the next decade, the analysis found.

The insurance company lobby group, America's Health Insurance Plans, wrote to Senate leaders Thursday saying that ending Obama's requirement that people buy insurance without strengthening insurance markets would produce "higher premiums, fewer choices for consumers and fewer people covered next year."