Trump’s health bill in the balance
US President Donald Trump held last-minute negotiations with fellow Republicans yesterday to avoid a humiliating defeat in his biggest legislative test to date, as politicians vote on an Obamacare replacement plan which conservatives threaten to sink.
Seven years to the day since Barack Obama signed his landmark health care reforms into law, Republican leaders were facing the grim prospect of insufficient support within their own ranks.
Republicans have spent years railing against the Affordable Care Act, branding it an example of Democrats pushing for socialised medicine. But Trump faces a reckoning as conservatives in his party have vowed to oppose the new legislation unless important last-minute changes are made.
Conservatives have balked at their own party’s plan, saying it is still too costly for the government.
They say they want to repeal health benefits that are considered essential and that all insurance policies must pay for under Obamacare, including maternity care and emergency room visits, arguing they have driven up costs.
But others, mainly moderates in the party, worry their constituents will no longer be able to afford health insurance under the Republican plan.
A nonpartisan congressional budget estimate says it would lead to 14 million Americans losing their cover from next year.
With Democrats opposed to Trump’s effort to rip out his predecessor’s crowning domestic policy achievement, and his own party’s right flank in revolt, the White House and Republican leaders have been burning the midnight oil to find ways to tweak the bill to make it palatable to enough conservatives without angering moderates.
Senator Mike Lee, a firm conservative, said the legislation lacked sufficient support in either chamber of Congress.
“This bill is going to fail,” he said. – AFP