WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans in the U.S. Senate will try again on Wednesday to approve a repeal of Obamacare as they struggle to keep a seven-year-old promise to end a law that has provided health insurance for millions of Americans but which they say is costly and intrusive.
The mid-afternoon vote would be the Republican-led Senate’s second stab in less than 24 hours at repealing Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature health law from 2010 when Democrats controlled Congress.
The Senate on Tuesday rejected the repeal-and-replace plan Republicans had been working on since May, with nine of 52 Republicans voting against it.
The failed vote, and a narrow 51-50 decision to open debate on the issue, underscored the party’s deep divisions on the proper role of government in helping people receive healthcare.
The Senate plans more votes on other healthcare approaches in coming days, as needed, in a freewheeling debate that could stretch through the week.
It is also a test of how Republicans govern, now that they control Congress and the White House. President Donald Trump, in office six months, has come down hard on his fellow Republicans for failing to act on Obamacare.
“Ultimately we want to get legislation to finally end the failed Obamacare legislation through Congress and to the president’s desk for his signature,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
“This certainly won’t be easy,” he said.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price told CNBC on Wednesday that Senate Republicans should aim for the “lowest common denominator” in order to get the 50 votes needed to pass a bill.
For now, many Republican senators are wondering whether the best they can manage is a “skinny” healthcare bill that would simply end Obamacare’s penalties for individuals and employers that do not obtain or provide health insurance, as well as abolish a medical device tax.
It would then be up to a special negotiating committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which passed its own version in May, to forge a joint bill. If that succeeds, the full House and Senate would again have to approve the legislation.
Republican leaders say they can devise a cheaper approach with less government intrusion into consumers’ healthcare decisions. Democrats and other critics of the Republican effort say it would deprive millions of health coverage, while the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates at least 22 million Americans would lose health insurance over the next decade with repeal and replace.
Trump attacked members from his own party who opposed repeal, targeting Lisa Murkowski by name in an early morning tweet on Wednesday. Murkowski told MSNBC in an interview that she was not worried about the political fallout.
“Every day shouldn’t be about winning elections. How about just doing a little bit of governing around here?” she said.
The other Republicans who opposed Tuesday’s replace and repeal measure were Senators Susan Collins, Bob Corker, Tom Cotton, Lindsey Graham, Dean Heller, Mike Lee, Jerry Moran and Rand Paul.
Healthcare industry organizations are similarly troubled and have urged a more bipartisan effort.
Democrats, united in opposition to the Republican effort, warned against repeal and criticized the chaotic process.
“No one should normalize what’s happening on the Senate floor right now,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
“This is not a game,” he said. “People’s lives are at stake … People are scared.”
Reporting by Richard Cowan; additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Mary Milliken and Howard Goller
Article source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-idUSKBN1AB19G