GOP abandons vote on health care repeal after CBO predicts 22 million would lose insurance

The Trump administration is failing to pull off its latest efforts to 'repeal and replace Obamacare' with a draconian plan that would leave 22 million or more without health coverage.

After a growing number of Republican senators voiced opposition to the GOP plan, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) today said he'd delay the vote on legislation until after lawmakers return from the July 4th recess.

"We will not be on the bill this week, but we will still be working to get at least 50 people in a comfortable place," McConnell today said.

It's a big setback for Trump. It's fantastic news for every American who may need health care now, or in the future, or may have a child or parent who does. The fight isn't over, but these monsters aren't winning just yet.

From the NYT:

Negotiations on Tuesday that leaders hoped would move senators toward yes only exposed the fissures in the Republican Party. Conservatives were demanding that states be allowed to waive the Affordable Care Act's prohibition on insurance companies charging sick people more for coverage and are asking for a more expansive waiver system for state regulators. They also wanted more money for tax-free health savings accounts to help people pay for private insurance.

Senators from states that expanded the Medicaid program — and Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine — would not brook many of those changes, especially the measure to severely undermine protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. They wanted more money for mental health benefits for people addicted to opioids and money for states to cover people left behind by the rollback of the Medicaid program in both the House and Senate versions.

Three Republican senators — Ms. Collins, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin — had announced they would vote against the motion to begin debate that had been scheduled to hit the Senate floor on Wednesday, joining Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, who made the same pledge on Friday.


The Times also has a count by name of which lawmakers are on board with BCRA/Trumpcare, and who's resisting.

Meanwhile, President Trump told all 52 Republican senators to come the White House Tuesday afternoon to talk about how to proceed with their plan to destroy America's health care system and give a promised tax cut to the richest of the rich.

Snip from Reuters:

The delay in the vote was a sign that McConnell and Trump have failed so far to attract enough votes amid a solid block of Democratic opposition and attacks from both moderate and conservative Republican senators.

Republica

n Senator Lisa Murkowski confirmed that the vote had been put off. "Nothing this week," she told reporters as she left a Senate Republican luncheon.

With a razor-thin majority in the Senate, McConnell needs support from at least 50 Republicans. But while the House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill last month to replace Obamacare, the Senate version appeared to be stalled on Tuesday.


PHOTO: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks at a press conference about the ongoing efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act outside the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 27, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein