McCain crosses the floor
Split denies Obamacare repeal
WASHINGTON: In a stinging blow to President Donald Trump, US Senate Republicans failed yesterday to dismantle Obamacare, falling short on a major campaign promise and perhaps ending their party’s sevenyear quest to gut the healthcare law.
Three Republican senators, John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, crossed party lines to join Democrats in a dramatic 49to51 vote to reject a ‘‘skinny repeal’’ Bill that would have killed some parts of Oba macare.
‘‘This is clearly a disappointing moment,’’ Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on an eerily quiet Senate floor right after the vote. ‘‘The American people are going to regret that we couldn’t find a better way forward.’’
Trump’s failure sent the dollar down against a basket of other currencies yesterday.
The setback leaves him without a major legislative win after more than six months in power, although Republicans control the White House, Senate and House. He had been expected to make rapid changes to healthcare, taxes and spending.
After the vote, Trump tweeted: ‘‘3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let Obamacare implode, then deal. Watch!’’.
Trump has repeatedly berated congressional Republicans for being unable to overcome internal divisions to repeal Obamacare, but has offered no legislation himself, nor any clear guidance on what he would like to do about replacing the law.
The president has demanded at various times that Obamacare should be allowed to collapse on its own, that it should be repealed without replacement, and that it should be repealed and replaced.
The Affordable Care Act, approved by Democrats in 2010, is former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement. It provided health insurance to millions of previously uninsured Americans.
The voting down of the Bill still leaves uncertainty in the health care industry, with insurers not sure how long the Trump Administration will continue to make billions of dollars in Obamacare payments that help cover outofpocket medical expenses for lowincome Americans.
Republicans, who hold 52 seats in the 100seat Senate, released the skinny Bill just three hours before voting began. It would have retroactively repealed the Obamacare penalty on individuals who do not purchase health insurance, repealed for eight years a penalty on certain employers who did not provide employees with insurance and repealed a medical device tax until 2020. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that if it became law, 15 million fewer Americans would be insured in 2018 than under existing law.
As the vote approached, all eyes were on McCain. The former Republican presidential nominee and Vietnam War hero flew back from Arizona after being diagnosed with brain cancer in order to vote, and sat talking to Collins, Murkowski, and Republican Senator Jeff Flake, also from Arizona.
Collins and Murkowski voted this week against more comprehensive Republican proposals to repeal and replace Obamacare.
When McCain walked to the front of the chamber to cast his deciding ‘‘no’’ vote, giving a thumbs down, Democrats cheered, knowing the Bill would fail.