Status of Senate health care replacement remains murky WHAT HAD THEY ALREADY VOTED ON?
Clean repeal dead as GOP plods through long debate
The Senate voted Wednesday to defeat a bill that would have repealed Obamacare within two years without any immediate plan to replace the sweeping health care law.
Senators voted 45- 55 in favor of the bill, falling six votes short of the 51 needed to pass it. Seven Republicans voted against it: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John McCain of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine, Dean Heller of Nevada, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.
The vote comes on the second day of a 20- hour Senate debate on health care as Republican leaders scramble to win enough votes from their own members to pass something to replace the Affordable Care Act. The Senate began its session Wednesday morning with about 17 hours left in the debate.
Here’s a look at where things stand now:
WHAT WERE THEY VOTING ON WEDNESDAY?
The big vote so far was the failed attempt to pass the amendment by Sen. Rand Paul, R- Ky., to repeal the Affordable Care Act within two years, which would have given lawmakers time to come up with a replacement plan before the law expired.
The proposal is the same as one passed by Congress in 2015, which was vetoed by former president Barack Obama. On Tuesday, senators voted 50- 50 to be- gin debate on a health care bill. Vice President Pence had to come to the Senate chamber to break the tie and allow debate to start.
After that, the biggest news came Tuesday night when senators defeated a Republican bill, on a vote of 43- 57, to replace Obamacare.
WHAT ARE DEMOCRATS DOING?
The Democrats have been voting against the Republican bills to repeal and replace Obamacare. They also are using procedural tactics to try to slow down the debate process.
On Tuesday, Democrats objected to the usual Senate practice of waiving the reading of the bill, so Senate clerks had to spend several hours reading the GOP leaders’ replacement bill aloud.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE 20 HOURS OF DEBATE ARE OVER?
A vote- a- rama will begin on dozens of amendments offered by senators of both parties. That is expected to start Thursday.
DO REPUBLICAN SENATE LEADERS HAVE AN ENDGAME?
With the defeat of the comprehensive replacement bill and the “clean” repeal bill, GOP leaders are now looking to pass a “skinny repeal” bill that would make limited changes to Obamacare. It would likely strip out the law’s tax on medical devices and its requirements for individuals to buy health insurance and large employers to provide coverage for their workers.
If that plan passes, it would most likely go to a conference committee to work out a final compromise.
“It’s becoming clearer that, in the end, the majority leader might push a much scaled- back version of repeal in the hopes of passing something, so- called skinny repeal, just to get to conference,” Minority Leader Charles Schumer, DN. Y., said.
WHY HAS IT BEEN SO DIFFICULT FOR THE SENATE TO REACH AGREEMENT?
Republican leaders have been trying to please the conservative and moderate wings of their party, and they have so far failed to win the support of both groups.
Conservatives generally want a complete repeal of Obamacare’s taxes and regulations while moderates worry that ending the law’s Medicaid expansion will leave struggling Americans with no way to afford medical coverage.
“Ultimately, we want to get legislation to finally end the failed Obamacare status quo through Congress and to the president’s desk for his signature,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R- Ky., said Wednesday in a speech on the Senate floor. “This certainly won’t be easy. Hardly anything in this process has been.”