Obamacare defeats Trump again at US Senate

Trump also tweeted: “Unless the Republican Senators are total quitters, Repeal & Replace is not dead!”

A report by the CBO Thursday night said an additional 16 million additional people will be without insurance by 2026 under the Senate Republicans’ Health Care Freedom Act.

This bill would decrease the federal budget deficits by about $179 billion over a decade.

Some Republicans, including those who voted against “skinny repeal” like John McCain, are now talking about trying to get Democratic help in the health care replacement efforts rather than strictly relying on Republican support.

Additionally it would deny funding to Planned Parenthood, and suspend for three years a tax on medical device manufacturers.

Friday morning, just before 2 a.m. ET, he delivered the fateful vote in the other direction. “All Republicans are going to vote against it”.

But we’ve sunk so low – Republicans are so desperate to prove they can do something, anything, that even senators who hated the bill voted for it – that the defeat of the so-called “skinny repeal” feels, yes, miraculous. After the House passed a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare in May, McConnell grappled to get Senate Republicans to agree on their version of the bill. “We’re going to have to regroup and figure that out”. And House GOP insiders feared they might not have the votes to pass the legislation because defense hawks wanted a ban on Pentagon-funded sex reassignment operations – something GOP leaders wouldn’t give them. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called the plan a “fraud”, “disaster” and “the dumbest thing in history”. McConnell designed it as a legislative vehicle the Senate could approve and begin talks with the House on a compromise, final bill.

“They are desperate to enact a bill before the summertime (August recess) starts, and that is why we’re all terrified here”, Schatz said in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday night.

Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living, echoed the other groups’ sentiments about the bill’s Medicaid risks.

The vote was 49-51. At the time, this was speculated to be the end of Obamacare repeal in the House. In doing so, they appear to have derailed their party’s seven-year campaign to “repeal and replace” Obamacare, at least for now. “I think all of us are concerned that we don’t pull the rug out from people”.

“This is a disappointment indeed”, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Earlier in the week, the surprise return of McCain, who was recently diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer, sent shockwaves across Washington and the nation as his vote put the GOP bill on the Senate floor.

Weary Republicans in Washington may be ready to move on from health care, but conservatives across the United States are warning the GOP-led Congress not to abandon its pledge to repeal the Obama-era health law – or risk a political nightmare in next year’s elections.

“This package includes important reforms like eliminating the job-killing employer mandate and the requirement that forces people to purchase coverage they don’t want”, Ryan said.

Over on the House side, Republicans made the same point, detailing specific ways they may attempt to keep the dream alive. We can work together to improve health care in this country.

The chamber is engaged in a prolonged process over the next two days to vote on various amendments and proposals, but few, if any, are expected to gain traction.

And shortly after that, Trump posted: “If the Senate Democrats ever got the chance, they would switch to a 51 majority vote in first minute”. As he was speaking to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen.