Earlier this year, House Republicans gathered in the wee hours of the morning to secretly prepare a replacement plan for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The result was the American Health Care Act (AHCA) — and with some amendments, made it to the Senate. Currently, however, Senate Republicans are preparing their own replacement for the ACA in private. This clandestine new rewrite will arrive on the heels of news that Senate GOP found the AHCA to have many holes, leading to a considerable divide amongst the Republican Party. While Senate Republicans claimed they were awaiting the full report from the Congressional Budget Office prior to proposing their own ACA replacement plan, rumor had it that a rewrite was already in progress.
After the CBO confirmed that as is, the AHCA would double the number of uninsured over a ten-year stretch, it was presumed that a rewrite was happening. Earlier last week, around a dozen Senate Republicans met with President Trump at the White House, and per third-ranking Republican Senator John Thune from South Dakota, Trump is looking to expedite the rewriting process and bridge whatever gaps are holding them back from their unified front. Trump reportedly had only a few wishes for the new bill, which included protection for those with pre-existing conditions, as well as subsidies for those based on a lower income level and not age (contrary to the AHCA).
Meanwhile Senate Democrats are still taking umbrage to the fact that the bill is being rewritten behind closed doors without their input, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claiming Republicans are “ashamed” of the current bill. While Senate Democrats continue to challenge the secrecy of the new bill—likening it to the Republicans’ complaints of how the ACA was executed—Senate Republicans claim that anyone with questions on the drafted bill should simply “ask.”
Moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins from Maine claims the drafted bill so far is much better than the AHCA. However, Senate GOP are not out of the woods yet. A lack of Democratic input could bring them back to square one. Further, some Senate Republicans still feel as though a finalized bill is not within sight, despite Trump’s urging to push forward. Republican Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch from Utah feels Republicans are still “a ways away” from solidifying a bill that would please the whole Party. While Hatch expressed hope in having the bill brought to the floor for a vote prior to the July 4th recess, there is no word as to whether or not that will actually happen. The waiting game continues.
