Chuck: Wait won’t save bill

SEN. JOHN McCAIN’S return to work after surgery won’t be enough to revive the ailing GOP health care bill, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday.

McCain, 80, underwent surgery at the Mayo Clinic on Friday to remove a blood clot above his left eye.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Saturday announced that he was postponing the highly anticipated vote to gut Obamacare due to the Arizona Republican’s absence, which is expected to last at least a week.

“Time is not the problem in the present health care bill,” Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters. “The problem is the substance. It slashes Medicaid, which has become something that helps middle-class New Yorkers . . . and millions of Americans.”

In another setback for senators who want to know how many people will lose their insurance, the Congressional Budget Office won’t be releasing its analysis of the latest bill on Monday, as had been expected.

The budget office said the report would be postponed, but it did not give an explanation for the delay.

Earlier, the budget office concluded a previous Senate proposal would leave 22 million people without health insurance by 2026.

The latest Senate bill, proposed Thursday, was on life support even before McCain underwent surgery. The GOP holds a 52-48 majority in the Senate, meaning it can only spare two votes.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky are against it, and others have expressed concern.

“There are about eight to 10 Republican senators who have serious concerns about this bill. And so at the end of the day, I don’t know whether it will pass,” said Collins, a moderate who is against the steep Medicaid cuts.

The delay will also give more time for opponents to mobilize and lobby against the bill.