US Republicans divided after second healthcare Bill collapses
18 July 2017 6:12 PM GMT
Republicans in the US Congress were in chaos over healthcare legislation after a second attempt to pass a bill in the Senate collapsed late on Monday, with President Donald Trump calling for an outright repeal of Obamacare and others seeking a change in direction toward bipartisanship. "Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.
Two of McConnell's Senate conservatives announced just hours earlier that they would not support the Republican leader's latest version of legislation to repeal portions of President Barack Obama's landmark 2010 healthcare law and replace them with new, less costly healthcare provisions.
With Republican Senators Mike Lee and Jerry Moran joining Senators Susan Collins and Rand Paul in opposition — and amid a solid wall of opposition from Democrats — McConnell no longer had enough votes to pass a Republican healthcare bill in the 100-member Senate.
It was the latest in a series of healthcare setbacks for Republicans, despite their control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. It also came after seven straight years of promising voters that they would repeal Obamacare if they were to control Congress and the White House, only to find that the public liked Obamacare more than their proposed substitutes, according to public opinion polls.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has determined that the various versions of Republican healthcare legislation would result in anywhere from 18 million to 23 million people losing their health insurance. However, Republicans argue that Obamacare is a government over-reach and costs too much money.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump blamed Democrats and a few holdouts in his own party today for the collapse of the latest Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare - one of Trump's key campaign pledges.
The collapse is a stinging blow to Trump and Republicans who have vowed for seven years that they would quickly dump former president Barack Obama's signature health care reform as soon as they could.
"We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republicans were loyal, terrific & worked really hard. We will return!" Trump said in a tweet Tuesday morning. "As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned!," he added. AGENCIES
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