Senate unveils healthcare bill
WASHINGTON — Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday unveils the body’s much-anticipated answer to the Affordable Care Act. The Better Care Reconciliation Act is a 142-page bill that largely mirrors the American Health Care Act that passed the House of Representatives last month, with some key differences.
The bill gets rid of the individual mandate for health insurance coverage that is the centerpiece of the ACA — as well as the employer mandate on providing it — and repeals all of the taxes that the ACA enforces, save the Cadillac tax on employer-provided plans, which would be delayed until 2026.
“I’m pleased that we were able to arrive at a draft that incorporates input from so many different Members, who represent so many different constituents, who are facing so many different challenges,” McConnell said Thursday. “Next week, we expect the Congressional Budget Office to release a score. After that, we will proceed with a robust debate and an open amendment process on the Senate floor — a process that I would encourage each of our 100 Senators to participate in.”
The bill also would cut more money from Medicaid that the AHCA does, though the cuts wouldn’t kcik in until 2025. And the Senate bill provides for a longer phase-out of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, starting to phase them out in 2021, with a plan to bring Medicaid funds back to the levels that existed before the ACA by 2024.
“I appreciate the work of the Senate as they continue to make progress fixing the crisis in healthcare that has resulted from Obamacare,” administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services Seema Verma said Thursday “The Senate proposal is built on putting patients first and in charge of their healthcare decisions, bringing down the cost of coverage and expanding choices. Congress must act now to achieve the President's goal to make sure all Americans have access to quality, affordable coverage.”
The bill also includes $2 billion in fiscal year 2018 to allow states to address the opioid crisis.
“Simply put, this bill will result in higher costs, less care, and millions of Americans will lose their health insurance — particularly through Medicaid,” Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor Thursday. “The president said the Senate bill needed heart — the way this cuts health care is heartless. The president said the House bill was ‘mean’ — the Senate bill may be meaner. The Senate Republican healthcare bill is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, only this wolf has sharper teeth than the House bill.”
Thursday afternoon, CNN reported that the bill lacked sufficient support from the Republican caucus, noting that four conservative senators had voiced their opposition and two other senators had withheld support.
"I want to get to yes, but this first draft doesn't get the job done,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said. “Over the next week and beyond, I will continue working to bring Republicans together to honor our promise, repeal Obamacare, and adopt common-sense, consensus reforms that can actually be passed into law.”