HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “The Senate’s marathon debate to dismantle Obamacare enters Day Two on Wednesday [7-26-17], as Republican senators continue painstaking deliberations to reach an ultimate agreement on health care reform.
The first order of business Wednesday afternoon: senators will consider as an amendment an Obamacare repeal bill — without an immediate replacement — that Congress passed in 2015 and was vetoed by former President Barack Obama.
That proposal would significantly gut the Affordable Care Act by repealing its unpopular individual and employer mandates, ending Medicaid expansion and rolling back a slew of the law’s taxes. The repeal would not go into effect for two years — a ‘transition period’ during which Republicans would draft a replacement plan.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the proposal would result 32 million more uninsured over the next decade. Three-quarters of the nation would live in areas with no insurers participating in the individual market by 2026, CBO said, leaving many without an option if they do not have employer-provided or government health insurance, such as Medicare or Medicaid.
Back in 2015, the passage of that bill was largely viewed as a political messaging exercise: GOP lawmakers were keenly aware that Obama would not sign it into law.”
-MJ Lee and Phil Mattingly, “Health care debate: Senate votes on full Obamacare repeal,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, July 26, 2017 12:48pm