House will vote on Obamacare repeal Thursday as Trump pledges ‘100%’ support

Top officials from Donald Trump’s administration worked the political talk shows on Sunday to sell the merits of the American Health Care Act, the House bill meant to replace former President Barack Obama’s signature health law, and offer reassurances to the public without getting into the timing of when that will happen.

“It’s not that you’ll pay 10 per cent less than what you’re paying today, it’s just a 10 per cent lower increase” to premiums, explained Mr Tacchino.

“It puts healthcare decisions back in the hands of patients where they belong”, and enables “once-in a generation entitlement reform”, she said.

Trump pointed to rising premiums on Obamacare plans this year, as much as 100 percent or more in Arizona, as evidence that the health-care law is a failure and needs immediate replacement.

“This is not the repeal bill that we’ve been waiting for for all these years”. They got some concrete evidence to back up their argument on Thursday night when Senator Susan Collins of ME said she’s a firm “no” on the American Health Care Act.

The GOP health care bill received a major boost Friday as critical Republicans who had been opposed pledged to support it after being offered changes to the legislation. Under the GOP bill, states that expanded Medicaid would get more money. AARP believes this legislation will have a significant negative impact on the health of millions of older Americans ages 50 to 64, as well as other vulnerable groups, including poor seniors and disabled children and adults.

Yarmuth argued that Republicans weren’t presenting a healthcare bill but an “ideological argument” that neglected the vulnerable individuals while giving tax breaks to the wealthy. He said that many of these people would be transitioned into new private and employer-sponsored plans that would become more affordable under the Republican plan. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, said it’s important to get the legislation passed before Congress leaves for a two-week spring recess next month. Monthly costs for insurance would go up at first, due to the elimination of the requirement for most people to have insurance or else pay a tax penalty.

By many accounts, Trump has been closely involved in negotiations on the bill, including calling committee members ahead of Thursday’s vote, but he is seen as focused on delivering his “repeal and replace” promise and flexible on the fine print. Mark Walker, R-N.C., the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, told reporters.

It’s unclear if Republicans will ever be able to convince their Democratic colleagues to help them after using the highly partisan budget reconciliation process.

CBO says 24 million fewer Americans would have health insurance by 2026. Why? “And they seem to have done a pretty good job of making everybody unhappy”.

The GOP legislation would eliminate the current mandate that almost all people in the United States carry insurance or face fines.

And at least a dozen Republican Senators have expressed concern with the bill – many more than the three defections needed to kill it in the Senate.