Washington – GOP House leaders delayed their planned vote Thursday on a long-promised bill to repeal and replace “Obamacare,” in a stinging setback for House Speaker Paul Ryan and President Donald Trump in their first major legislative test.
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The decision came after Trump, who ran as a master dealmaker, failed to reach agreement with a bloc of rebellious conservatives. Moderate-leaning Republican lawmakers were also bailing on the legislation, leaving it short of votes.
The bill could still come to a vote in coming days, but canceling Thursday’s vote was a significant defeat. It came on the seven-year anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the Affordable Care Act, years that Republicans have devoted to promising repeal.
Those promises helped them keep control of the House and Senate and win the White House, but now, at the moment of truth, they are falling short.
“No deal,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said after he and his group of more than two dozen rebellious conservatives met with Trump to try to get more concessions to reduce requirements on insurance companies.
The Republican legislation would halt Obama’s tax penalties against people who don’t buy coverage and cut the federal-state Medicaid program for low earners, which the Obama statute had expanded. It would provide tax credits to help people pay medical bills, though generally skimpier than Obama’s statute provides. It also would allow insurers to charge older Americans more and repeal tax boosts the law imposed on high-income people and health industry companies.
The measure would also block federal payments to Planned Parenthood for a year, another stumbling block for GOP moderates.
In a danger sign for Republicans, a Quinnipiac University poll found that people disapprove of the GOP legislation by 56 percent to 17 percent, with 26 percent undecided. Trump’s handling of health care was viewed unfavorably by 6 in 10.
The survey was conducted March 16 to 21 with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
GOP leaders had targeted Thursday for the climactic vote, in part because it marks the seventh anniversary of Obama’s signing the measure into law. With the House in recess awaiting the outcome of the White House meeting, C-SPAN aired video of that signing ceremony.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., couldn’t resist a dig.
“You may be a great negotiator,” she said of Trump. “Rookie’s error for bringing this up on a day when clearly you’re not ready.”
In a count by The Associated Press, at least 30 Republicans said they opposed the bill, enough to defeat the measure. But the number was in constant flux amid the eleventh-hour lobbying.
Including vacancies and expected absentees, the bill would be defeated if 23 Republicans join all Democrats in voting “no.”
Obama declared in a statement that “America is stronger” because of the current law and Democrats must make sure “any changes will make our health care system better, not worse for hardworking Americans.” Trump tweeted to supporters, “Go with our plan! Call your Rep & let them know.”
Tension has been building in advance of the critical vote, and a late-night meeting of moderate-leaning members in Speaker Ryan’s office Wednesday broke up without resolution.
A key moderate who had been in the meeting, Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, issued a statement saying he would be voting “no” on the health bill. “I believe this bill, in its current form, will lead to the loss of coverage and make insurance unaffordable for too many Americans,” said Dent, a leader of the Tuesday Group of moderate-leaning Republicans.
Congressional leaders have increasingly put the onus on the president to close the deal, seemingly seeking to ensure that he takes ownership of the legislation — and with it, ownership of defeat if that is the outcome.
Moderates were given pause by projections of 24 million Americans losing coverage in a decade and higher out-of-pocket costs for many low-income and older people, as predicted by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
They started this process behind closed doors and did not include conservatives in the creation of this bill. I hope it gets shelved so maybe they’ll have a chance at really reforming healthcare.
24 million Americans to lose health insurance: what an accomplishment for Mr. Scrooge and Lyin’ Ryan. Its also well known that the ‘stripped down’ version of NoTrumpCare will not pay for women’s health care, mental health issues, drug/alcohol rehab, most medicines, dietary help, all things so many of Herr Trumpf’s supporters need. And premiums will go UP UP UP…
Trumpcare should be renamed Trumpcon.
These hearings are phony and Trump care is phony. If the President truthfully wanted to improve health care the house and senate committees on health care legislation would have worked out a compromise and written new health care legislation. However, the Republicans are doing grand standing and giving the health insurance companies more profits. Maybe each American should have the coverage what these so called legislatures have. They get paid and can afford to fool around as long as they want.
Obummer Care was the biggest scam of a lifetime! Americans have already realized that embarrassment of a president broke every promise he ever made, and didn’t keep any of his promises. No, you can’t keep your doctor, no, your premiums will not stay the same or be lowered, and numerous other disastrous realizations for gullible Americans who wanted so badly to believe this empty suit. But don’t dare tell the truth about him lest you be accused of racism. What a double standard. He was very close to terrorists and anti America bigots. But did anyone continue to investigate, or harp on it, like these phony liberals are trying to do to PRES, Trump? No, of course not. Because liberals are the biggest hypocrites and liars on earth.
No need to cover mental health care. Trump and his followers won’t use it anyway.