GOP Again Fails to Pass Healthcare Bill

Veronica Neffinger | iBelieve Contributor | Updated: Jul 21, 2017

GOP Again Fails to Pass Healthcare Bill

Republican lawmakers continue to struggle to pass a healthcare bill. The latest version of the bill again fell short of the necessary support.

The Weekly Standard reports that Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran expressed opposition to the bill, effectively stymying the GOP’s efforts on the healthcare front once again.

The bill had little room for disagreement. To pass, all but two GOP senators needed to vote for it, but Lee and Moran’s opposition, added to the previous opposition of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, ensured that the bill again died.

Lee explained his opposition to the bill:

“After conferring with trusted experts regarding the latest version of the Consumer Freedom Amendment, I have decided I cannot support the current version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act. 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.”

Moran also voiced his problems with the new repeal and replace bill:

“There are serious problems with Obamacare, and my goal remains what it has been for a long time: to repeal and replace it. This closed-door process has yielded the BCRA, which fails to repeal the Affordable Care Act or address healthcare’s rising costs. For the same reasons I could not support the previous version of this bill, I cannot support this one.”

With another failed effort, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Monday night that a vote will instead be held on a bill passed in 2015 which would repeal Obamacare over a two-year period.

“Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful,” said McConnell.

 

Photo: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) walks to a meeting of Republican senators where a new version of their healthcare bill was scheduled to be released at the U.S. Capitol July 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. The latest version of the proposed bill aims to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also knows as Obamacare.

Photo courtesy: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Publication date: July 18, 2017



GOP Again Fails to Pass Healthcare Bill