Latest GOP health care bill collapses
Two more Republican senators announce their opposition, dooming current effort’s chances
Washington — Republican efforts to replace the Affordable Care Act collapsed in the Senate on Monday evening as two more GOP senators announced they would oppose the plan backed by their party’s leadership.
The announcements by Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas brought to four the number of Republican senators opposed to bringing the bill to the Senate floor for debate. With all Senate Democrats against the bill, their opposition was enough to kill the current measure.
“We should not put our stamp of approval on bad policy,” Moran said in a statement. “We must now start fresh.”
Lee said that he opposed the plan because it would not lower costs for healthy Americans whose insurance premiums were pushed up by the need to subsidize costs for those who were ill.
“In addition to not repealing all of the Obamacare taxes, it doesn’t go far enough in lowering premiums for middle-class families; nor does it create enough free space from the most costly Obamacare regulations,” Lee said in a statement, referring to the current bill.
The sudden announcement from Lee, a leading conservative, and Moran, who headed the Senate Republican Campaign Committee in the 2014 election, came as President Donald Trump was dining at the White House with several GOP supporters of the bill. That timing made their announcements a more stinging rebuke of the White House’s efforts on behalf of the measure.
Monday night, Trump says Republicans should just repeal the current law and work on a new plan that starts from a “clean slate.” Trump says that if Republicans start fresh, “Dems will join in!”
A White House spokesperson said that Trump would continue to push for repeal of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
“Inaction is not an option,” the spokesperson said. “We look forward to Congress continuing to work toward a bill the president can sign to end the Obamacare nightmare and restore quality care at affordable prices.”
Two other Republican lawmakers, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, had previously announced that they would oppose the bill. With 52 Republicans in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could afford their two defections, but no additional ones.
Throughout the last few weeks, Republican lawmakers have been under intense pressure not to be the senator whose vote was the final one to kill the bill. By making their announcement together, Moran and Lee may have hoped to avoid that label.
McConnell could now attempt to pull together a new version of the legislation, but Moran’s call for a fresh start indicated that he, at least, would be difficult to sway.
House Republicans failed in several attempts before finally passing their version of a repeal bill earlier this year. But the White House has been unable, or unwilling, to exert similar pressure on Republican senators, and time is dwindling on the legislative calendar to accomplish other GOP goals.
Beyond the four announced opponents, several other Republican senators had strong doubts about the bill. Earlier in the day, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, one of the Senate’s most conservative members, had said he might oppose the bill.
Johnson said he objected to statements McConnell had made in efforts to reassure centrist senators. According to Johnson, McConnell had told those senators that the steep cuts in Medicaid the bill called for wouldn’t take effect for years and might never happen.
The Republican bill also faced mounting opposition from the health insurance industry. Insurers until recently had resisted public criticism of the GOP health care campaign. On Friday, however, they issued a blistering critique of the latest version of the Senate legislation.
The industry’s two top trade groups called the bill “unworkable” and warned that it would make it more difficult for sicker Americans to get coverage, echoing warnings from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the American Academy of Actuaries and others.
As many as 10 Republican senators had remained undecided as leaders worked behind closed doors to try to solidify support for the bill. Others are likely to break ranks now that it is clear the bill does not have the support to pass.
The move also exposes a new rupture among conservatives. An amendment from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to allow insurers to offer lowpriced, bare-bones plans was supposed to draw conservative support.
But it was not enough for either Paul or Lee, a longtime Cruz friend and ally.
Democrats welcomed another, potentially insurmountable, setback as they push Republicans to end their efforts to repeal the health care law, also called Obamacare, and work together to fix it.
“This second failure of Trumpcare is proof positive that the core of this bill is unworkable,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.
“Rather than repeating the same failed, partisan process yet again, Republicans should start from scratch and work with Democrats on a bill that lowers premiums, provides long-term stability to the markets and improves our health care system.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.