Note to wife:
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump adopted congressional Republicans’ seven-year mantra of “repeal and replace” the so-called Obamacare program, which provides insurance coverage for the uninsured and the poor. So now that the GOP controls the House, the Senate and the White House, you’d think this would be a slam dunk.
However, the American Health Care Act, as written by House Speaker Paul Ryan and endorsed by Trump, isn’t getting enough votes to pass thanks to competing factions in their party.
Their proposal lost support from the far-right Freedom Caucus, who wanted more benefits taken away, and more moderate Republicans (didn’t know there were any left), who thought the plan was too damaging to the poor. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the replacement law would cause 14 million people lose insurance coverage next year, and 24 million over the next decade.
Without united Republican support, Ryan pulled the plan before the vote. It appears to be a non-starter for the near future.
Meanwhile, Democrats, who acknowledge that Obamacare does have its problems, have advocated a more cautious approach instead of wholesale dismantling of the still-popular program for previously uninsured Americans.