Senate GOP releases bill to cut Medicaid, alter ‘Obamacare’

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky: Speaking on the floor on June 22, he said, “I’m pleased that we were able to arrive at a draft that incorporates input from so many different Members, who represent so many different constituents, who are facing so many different challenges”. Tim Scott of SC.

Paul said the Republican’s approach to drafting this bill was significantly rushed.

Republican leaders promise after today “all of the concerns – people have had – about the process – will evaporate”, said Senator John Cornyn, (R) Texas. “As best as I can tell it does but again I need to read the text”. Like the House version, the Senate bill would eliminate the health program as an open-ended entitlement but over a longer time period, allowing federal funding to continue through 2020 and be eliminated by 2024.

Heller – who will have a tough re-election in Nevada next year – expressed “serious concerns” about the bill’s impact on constituents who depend on Medicaid. My focus is on protecting the people of Arizona, and I am consulting with Governor Doug Ducey and seeking input from Arizonans before making a final decision.

Under the ACA, individuals are required to acquire health insurance and larger employers are required to offer affordable plans to their employees.

The emerging Senate bill was described by people on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. The proposal would also allow states increased access to waivers from Obamacare’s requirements of insurers. The House version was first celebrated by President Donald Trump in a White House Rose Garden ceremony, though he later criticized the bill as “mean”.

Republican senators hope to vote on the bill before their July 4th recess.

The group of around 20 protesters outside of Rubio’s office said the American Health Care Act would help the rich, while taking away health care insurance for millions Americans. “Any senator who votes for this bill is clearly prioritizing a meaningless political victory over the health and livelihoods of the American people”.

“It’s going to be hard for conservatives to support a bill that has greater subsidies than Obamacare”, Paul said.

Former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement has been a target of Republican wrath for years. Mr. Trump campaigned on the issue, and has said that Congress must pass a health care overhaul before proceeding with other parts of his agenda. The Senate now has 52 Republicans and 48 Democrats.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden or OR speaks during a demonstration against the Republican health care plan outside the U.S. Capitol on June 21, 2017.

WARREN: Senate Republicans had to make a choice. Bob Casey, D-Pa., signaled his opposition Thursday by highlighting sections of the bill in a series of posts on Twitter.

Some of the biggest changes this bill makes are to Medicaid, the entitlement program that provides health care to low-income Americans.

The bill appears to be a less austere version of the one that passed the House of Representatives last month which, according to a forecast by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), would leave 23 million fewer people insured than under current law.

It also would determine those credits based on age and income – that’s a change from the House bill, which based credits mostly around age.

“Before passing a massive bill that will affect the lives of every single American, there ought to be a rigorous and robust debate on the floor”, Schumer said in a statement. With Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pressing ahead for a vote next week, senators now only a handful of days to decide whether to support or vote against the bill. A vote is expected next week.

The bill can not be filibustered because it requires only a majority vote to pass. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, in OH, is among them, although its reasons include uncertainty over whether Republicans will allow payment of money it and other insurers were owed under the ACA.