Tuesday, March 26, 2024

How Many Republicans Voted For Obamacare In The Senate

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Mcconnell Reacts To ‘skinny Bill’s’ Failure

Senate Republicans fail to get necessary votes to repeal and replace Obamacare

We told our constituents we would vote that way and when the moment came, the moment came, most of us did,” he said.

“This is clearly a disappointment,” McConnell added. “It’s time to move on.”

The return of McCain to Washington after a brain cancer diagnosis added drama to the already tense proceedings. It was his vote the 50th that allowed Republicans begin debating the measure.

McCain gave a heartfelt speech upon his return to the Senate on Tuesday, decrying the rise of partisanship. And it was McCain who put an end to the partisan repeal effort.


McCain spoke to Trump last night on the phone and the president urged him to vote to for the skinny repeal bill assuring him it wouldnt end up passing into law, according to one source with direct knowledge of the call.

Vice President Mike Pence, who arrived in the chamber in a bid to rescue the bill and in preparation to cast the deciding vote, stood alongside McCain’s desk and then joined the senator in the cloakroom. By the time they re-emerged, separately, the vote had begun.

McCain went back to his desk and sat after casting his “no” vote. He eventually made his way to the Democrats’ side of the chamber and was greeted with hugs and cheers.

“I believe each of us stood up for the reasons that we felt were right”

Several Republicans said they did not know where McCain would fall, and there were audible gasps in the chamber when he turned down his thumb to indicate his decision.


The Real Gop Agenda Trickles Out: Repeal Health Care Raise Taxes

From the Speaker’s Press Office:

Despite GOP Leaders orders to keep quiet about their plans, the truth of the Republican agenda just keeps leaking out.

Days after top Senate GOPer Rick Scott doubled down on the GOP plan to raise taxes on over half of Americans, Senator Ron Johnson announced Republicans will revive their obsession with repealing the Affordable Care Act and ripping away health coverage for more than 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions.

The latest salvo in Republicans war on protections for pre-existing conditions comes amidst record-breaking ACA enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed millions of Americans to secure quality, affordable health insurance. Under President Bidens American Rescue Plan, Democrats further lowered premiums, saving families saved an average of $2,400. Yet, Republicans are dead set on rolling back that hard-won progress.

No wonder GOP Leaders dont want to talk about their agenda for working families: no health care, higher taxes.


Read key points from the Washington Post on the GOPs ongoing plans to repeal the ACA here:

Washington Post: Sen. Ron Johnson says Obamacare should be repealed if GOP wins power back

Gutierrez Says Hundreds Of Republican Amendments Were A Part Of Obamacare

Republicans continue to sell their health care plan in an effort to deliver on a party-wide campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. Yet during a roundtable discussion on State of the Union, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., pushed back on charges of Democratic obstructionism regarding health care legislation.

Anchor Jake Tapper asked if Gutierrez was involved, or if Democrats were just sitting by the sidelines opposing everything.

Very different process, Gutierrez replied. 2009-2010, lets remember, hundreds of Republican amendments were adopted in the ACA.


We decided to look into Gutierrezs claim that the final version of the Affordable Care Act incorporated hundreds of Republican amendments.

When the ACA was making its way through Congress, former President Barack Obama made a similar statement in September 2009. During a joint address to Congress, he said that his plan incorporated the ideas of both Republicans and Democrats. We rated that claim Mostly False, because many of the amendments Republicans introduced were technical in nature.

Republicans had several opportunities to introduce amendments to the Affordable Care Act, in both the Senate and House bills. Ultimately, for procedural reasons tied to the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., the Senate version was the only one that moved forward. But Republicans offered changes in the committees that considered the bills before the whole chambers voted on them.

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Our ruling

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Lesson : Replacing Obamacare Will Remain A Struggle Without A Clear Replacement Plan Or Goal

On one of his last days in office, President Obama, in an interview with Vox, issued the Republican Party a clear challenge. Now is the time when Republicans have to go ahead and show their cards, he said. If in fact they have a program that would genuinely work better, and they want to call it whatever they want they can call it Trumpcare or McConnellcare or Ryancare if it actually works, I will be the first one to say, Great.

I suspect, Obama continued, that will not happen.

So far, the former presidents prediction has proven right. Republicans have struggled over the past six months because they never came up with a clear replacement plan that the public actually wanted.

The day before Obamacare was signed, Republicans decided they would not campaign only to repeal the new health care law. They would instead vow to repeal and replace it with a more conservative health policy.

The repeal and replace message was a concession that simply promising to return to the days before Obamacare was unrealistic. But it also committed them to coming up with a plan of their own and that part never happened.


After Republicans swept the House, the Senate, and, finally, the White House, they still had no clear replacement plan. The GOP had spent seven years running a scorched-earth campaign against Obamacare, while turning a blind eye to the deep divisions within their own party on the replace part of their pledge.

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Rep Elise Stefanik Of New York

Even with new Arizona senator, GOP lacks the votesand the appetiteto ...

Stefanik has bucked her party and Trump on a number of occasions recently, including voting to block the presidents declaration of a national emergency on the southern border. In the last Congress, she supported the partys effort to repeal much of the 2010 health care law but opposed the GOP tax overhaul. Stefanik is not listed as a DCCC target this cycle, and she won a third term last fall by 14 points. Inside Elections rates her re-election Solid Republican.

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How Many Times Have House Republicans Voted To Repeal Obamacare

“They have been obsessed with repealing the Affordable Care Act,” President Obama told a Democratic National Committee meeting in Washington last month. “You know what they say: 50th time is the charm. Maybe when you hit your 50th repeal vote, you will win a prize. Maybe if you buy 50 repeal votes, you get one free. We get it.”

^^All lies.If you count the budget, the House has voted six times to repeal Obamacare. First when they took the House majority, once after the SCOTUS decision, and once this Congress. And then the budget every year.delaying some of the same provisions of the law that Obama has now delayed, fixing portions of the law that passed both houses of Congress and were signed by the President.


is

Samhain said:Based on the precedent the President has created, and quite frankly Congress is on the hook for it as well, the Executive now has the power to ignore the implementation dates. Voting modifications to the bill is a waste of time because it redundant.

MaggieD said:^^All lies.If you count the budget, the House has voted six times to repeal Obamacare. First when they took the House majority, once after the SCOTUS decision, and once this Congress. And then the budget every year.The rest? Votes to defund parts of Obamacare that would have crippled its implementation, delaying some of the same provisions of the law that Obama has now delayed, fixing portions of the law that passed both houses of Congress and were signed by the President.

*shivering*

Changes Required By The Affordable Care Act In 2011

  • A provision goes into effect to protect patients choice of doctors. Specifics include allowing plan members to pick any participating primary care provider, prohibiting insurers from requiring prior authorization before a woman sees an obstetrician/gynecologist , and ensuring access to emergency care.
  • Young adults can stay on their parents insurance until age 26, even if they are not full-time students. This extension applies to all new plans.
  • All new health insurance policies must cover preventive care and pay a portion of all preventive care visits.
  • A provision goes into effect that eliminates lifetime limits on coverage for members.
  • Annual limits or maximum payouts by a health insurance company are now restricted by the ACA.
  • The ACA prohibits rescission when a claim is filed, except in the case of fraud or misrepresentation by the consumer.
  • Insurance companies must now provide a process for customers to make an appeal if there is a problem with their coverage.

NOTE: In January, 2011: eHealth publishes 11 guides on the top child-only health insurance coverage that examined differences in implementation in numerous states.

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What The Aca Means For You

The Affordable Care Act is perhaps the greatest overhaul ofthe US health-care system, and it will provide coverage for over 94% ofAmericans. In addition, one of its key reforms includes health coverage for adultswith pre-existing conditions, which generally had not been available up untilnow.

These great changes in health-care insurance can benefit you and your loved ones. However, it is still essential to find the best plans at the best price to ensure your family is properly covered.

To learn about the specific Obamacare-compliant health insurance plan options available to youplus see if you are eligible for a government subsidy to help pay for a plancompare ACA-compliant health insurance plans with eHealth today.

First Steps To A Repeal Are Under Way In Congress

Senate Democrats Pass Inflation Reduction Act Without A Single Vote From GOP Senators

The quest to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act began even before Donald Trump was sworn in as president.

More than two weeks before Trumps inauguration, the Senate made its first move, approving a procedural motion on Jan. 4 to start debate on a budget resolution.


Passing a budget resolution is a key step in repealing President Barack Obamas signature health care law. It allows the Republican majority in Congress to repeal sweeping portions of the law with just 51 votes in the Senate. This process, known as reconciliation, saves the majority from having to round up the 60 votes required to break a filibuster a much tougher challenge.

On Jan. 12, the Senate passed the budget resolution itself, 51-48. Every Democrat voted against it . The only Republican to cross party lines to vote with Democrats was Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who had expressed concerns about repealing the law without a replacement ready to go.

The budget resolution includes instructions that provide the tools necessary to repeal the law.

Among other things, it instructs the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to submit legislation to the Senate Budget Committee by Jan. 27.

Still, using reconciliation to repeal the Affordable Care Act has its challenges. While the ACA has a multitude of provisions, the reconciliation process can only address matters related to federal spending and taxes.

Still, this is enough to rate this promise In the Works.

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Latest Partial Repeal Effort Dies Before Deadline

Another Senate attempt to repeal portions of the Affordable Care Act has ended, this time before going to a vote.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced a GOP-led health care bill would not go to a vote after three Republican senators said the bill did not have their support. In July, a similar partial-repeal effort died when Sens. John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted against it.

The latest bill, spearheaded primarily by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La. and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would have taken funding that is used under current law for Medicaid expansion and insurance subsidies and used it to fund block grants to states. A preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office said the bill would have reduced the deficit by $133 billion by 2026 as well as resulted in millions more uninsured people compared to the current health care law.

McCain and Collins, along with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., publicly voiced their opposition to the Graham-Cassidy bill.

Proponents of the bill only had a few weeks to gain enough support before a temporary process that allows health care legislation to pass in the Senate with 50 votes rather than the usual 60 ends on Sept. 30. Graham called it the GOPs best and only chance to meet its goal of repealing Obamacare.

Until we see new movement on his promise to repeal Obamacare, well continue to rate this Stalled.

How Senate Democrats Passed The Bill On A Party

Senate Democrats have long hoped to pass a signature legislative package that would incorporate major agenda items for the party, but struggled for months to reach a deal that gained full support of their caucus.

Manchin played a key role in shaping the legislation which only moved forward after the West Virginia Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a deal at the end of July, a major breakthrough for Democrats after earlier negotiations had stalled out.

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on Thursday night offered critical support after party leaders agreed to change new tax proposals, indicating she would move forward on the sweeping economic package.

But Sinema, Manchin and other senators worked through the weekend making crucial alterations on the bill.

To avoid a last-minute collapse of the bill on Sunday, Democrats created a plan to win over Sinema, who was concerned over the 15% corporate minimum taxs impact on subsidiaries owned by private equity. Senate Democrats accepted a narrower tax proposal, but instead of paying for it through a change to the state and local tax deduction, as Senate GOP Whip John Thune of South Dakota suggested, they instead extended the limitation on the amount of losses that businesses can deduct for another two years.

In a good sign for the bill becoming law, key House Democrats signaled later Sunday that theyll vote for it despite previous demands over SALT.

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The House Votes To Repeal Obamacare

Republicans overcame an embarrassing early failure to pass their replacement for the Affordable Care Act with few votes to spare. Now, they await the political fallout.

For House Republicans, the burden of an unfulfilled campaign promise had simply become too much to bear alone.

And so on Thursday, after an embarrassing early failure and weeks of fits and starts, a narrow GOP majority passed legislation to partially repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act that even many of its supporters conceded was deeply flawed. The party-line vote was 217-213, with 20 Republicans voting against. The bill now goes to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain at best.

The American Health Care Act scraps the Obamacare mandates that people buy health insurance and that employers provide it, eliminates most of its tax increases, cuts nearly $900 billion from Medicaid while curtailing the programs expansion, and allows states to seek a waiver exempting them from the current laws crucial prohibition against insurers charging higher premiums to people with pre-existing conditions. Conservatives complained that the bill did not fully repeal the 2010 law, while moderates blanched at its cuts to Medicaid and its weakening of its most popular consumer protections.

Scotus Votes To Uphold Obamacare Based On A Technicality No Decision On Constitutional Issues

Obamacare repeal isnt dead as long as Republicans control Congress

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a Republican bid that had been backed by former President Donald Trumps administration to invalidate the Obamacare healthcare law, ruling that Texas and other challengers had no legal standing to file their lawsuit.

The 7-2 ruling authored by liberal Justice Stephen Breyer did not decide broader legal questions raised in the case about whether a key provision in the law, which is formally called the Affordable Care Act, was unconstitutional and, if so, whether the rest of the statute should be struck down.

The provision, called the individual mandate, originally required Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a financial penalty.

It marked the third time the court has preserved Obamacare since its 2010 enactment.

Breyer wrote that none of the challengers, including Texas and 17 other states and individual plaintiffs, could trace a legal injury to the individual mandate.

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Joe Bidens administration in February urged the Supreme Court to uphold Obamacare, reversing the position taken by the government under Trump, who left office in January.

After Texas and other states sued, a coalition of 20 states including Democratic-governed California and New York and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives intervened in the case to try to preserve Obamacare after Trump refused to defend the law.

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Why Is The Aca Misunderstood

Oftentimes, how Obamacare is discussed and framed has led to misunderstanding of the ACA.

The legislation is a series of provisions, opening up a marketplace of different tiered plans from which citizens can choose. Its not a health insurance plan in and of itself, the way some anti-ACA-leaning media outlets tend to depict it.

When asked why there tends to be so much confusion over what exactly Obamacare is, John McDonough, DrPH, MPA, a professor of public health practice in the Department of Health Policy & Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of executive and continuing professional education, said its because American healthcare is confusing to begin with.

Ask Americans to explain Medicare and or Medicaid, and you will observe at least as much befuddlement as with the ACA. Our U.S. healthcare system is the most complicated and impenetrable to understand and make sense of on the planet, McDonough told Healthline.

He should know. McDonough was there at the beginning.

He worked on the development and passage of the ACA in the role of a senior advisor on national health reform to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

In the early days around 2010, when people would complain to me that they didnt understand the ACA, I would ask them politely how well they understand the U.S. health system in general, he said.

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