GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/POLITICS: “As their seven-year effort to repeal and replace Obamacare derailed in the U.S. Senate, Republicans faced the prospect of doing the once unthinkable: working with Democrats to make fixes to former President Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare law.
Bipartisan breakthroughs would likely come in the form of individual bills targeted at issues such as stabilizing insurance markets or lowering prescription drug costs. A wholesale overhaul of healthcare, senators say, is a bridge too far for the two parties, locked for years in an ideological battle on that issue and many others.
President Donald Trump invited all Republican senators to have lunch at the White House on Wednesday [7-19-17] to discuss healthcare and other priorities…
Democrats, clearly delighted with the turn of events, welcomed the Republicans’ failure to replace Obamacare as an opportunity to work together. Republicans conceded their other options may be exhausted.
‘They badly miscalculated,’ Democratic Senator Tim Kaine told MSNBC in an interview on Wednesday. ‘And now, they have to set it aside and come back and try to do it the right way.’
Democrats are united in opposing repeal of the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, which boosted the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies.
The No. 2 Senate Republican, John Cornyn, told reporters it was ‘unfortunate’ that he expected bipartisan talks to begin.”
-Amanda Becker and Susan Cornell, “Senate Republicans reluctantly consider bipartisan healthcare talks,” Reuters, July 19, 2017 03:03am