MillenniumPost
Editorial

Trump's healthcare Bill collapses

In a setback to US President Donald Trump, two more United States Republican senators announced their opposition on Monday to their party's efforts to revamp Obamacare. Republican leaders are desperate for a major legislative victory this year and are keen to fulfill Trump's campaign pledge to dismantle the 2010 health care reforms of his predecessor Barack Obama, formally called the Affordable Care Act. Republicans control 52 of the chamber's 100 seats.

Democrats are united against the controversial legislation, while Republicans Susan Collins and Rand Paul declared their opposition last week. Senate conservatives Mike Lee and Jerry Moran also announced late Monday they could not support the bill, this news sent shock waves to White House. "We should not put our stamp of approval on bad policy," Moran — who faced considerable opposition at home in Kansas to the measure — said in a statement, adding that the new bill "fails to repeal the Affordable Care Act or address health care's rising costs."

On the other hand, for Lee, as it was 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. Their defections mean that the bill has no chance of even getting a vote on the Senate floor unless Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decides to make significant changes to flatter 'doubting Thomas' back into the fold. "Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!" Trump, however, tweeted after Lee and Moran made their opposition known.

McConnell delayed a vote to proceed on the Bill, after octogenarian Senator John McCain underwent surgery to remove a blood clot above his eye and said he would recuperate at home in Arizona for at least a week. But McCain's nonappearance is now something of a questionable point. Several Republicans had already expressed concern that the new bill could slash funding for Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor and the disabled. The new bill would gradually roll back the program; a move that some Republicans warn could lead to millions losing coverage. The latest defections show that conservatives are frustrated that the new bill does not repeal the Obamacare taxes. This has given a fresh issue to the Opposition for criticising Trumpcare. "This second failure of Trumpcare is proof positive that the core of this bill is unworkable," said top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer.

Though Republican leaders are eager to notch a major victory for Trump in Congress as he nears the six-month mark of his presidency, health care is now unlikely to be that achievement. And while tax reform and infrastructure are also high priorities that the Congress could address, they will need to take a back seat for now to a logjam of must-finish business in the Senate. Some fear that repealing Obamacare could adversely impact millions of Americans on Medicaid, or make health costs soar for people with pre-existing conditions. There is little institutional support for the bill, and even less for an amendment introduced by Senator Ted Cruz that would allow insurers to offer bare-bones plans that do not comply with Obamacare's coverage requirements.


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