{"id":35425,"date":"2017-07-19T04:50:34","date_gmt":"2017-07-19T04:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=35425"},"modified":"2017-07-19T06:31:56","modified_gmt":"2017-07-19T06:31:56","slug":"let-obamacare-fail-trump-says-as-g-o-p-health-bill-collapses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/lifestyle\/let-obamacare-fail-trump-says-as-g-o-p-health-bill-collapses.html","title":{"rendered":"‘Let Obamacare Fail,’ Trump Says as G.O.P. Health Bill Collapses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Let Obamacare Fail,\u2019 Trump Says as G.O.P. Health Bill Collapses<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u2018Let Obamacare Fail,\u2019 Trump Says as G.O.P. Health Bill Collapses:- The seven-year Republican quest to undo the Affordable Care Act appeared to reach a dead end on Tuesday in the Senate, leaving President Trump vowing to let President Barack Obama\u2019s signature domestic achievement collapse.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump declared that his plan was now to \u201clet Obamacare fail,\u201d and suggested that Democrats would then seek out Republicans to work together on a bill to bury the Affordable Care Act. If he is determined to make good on that pledge, he has plenty of levers to pull, from declining to reimburse insurance companies for reducing low-income customers\u2019 out-of-pocket costs to failing to enforce the mandate that most Americans have health coverage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be a lot easier,\u201d Mr. Trump said at the White House, adding: \u201cWe\u2019re not going to own it. I\u2019m not going to own it. I can tell you the Republicans are not going to own it. We\u2019ll let Obamacare fail, and then the Democrats are going to come to us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The fate of the repeal effort looked to be sealed on Tuesday, when a last-ditch attempt to force a vote to abolish the health law without a replacement fell short of support. The majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, seemed resolved to force senators to vote next week, but by Tuesday afternoon, it was clear he did not have 50 votes even to clear a procedural hurdle before considering a repeal-only measure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, all Republicans, declared that they would not vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement: enough to doom the effort before it could gain any momentum. Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, also rejected that path.<\/span><\/p>\n

The collapse highlighted a harsh reality for Senate Republicans: While they freely assailed the health law when Mr. Obama occupied the White House, they could not come up with a workable plan to unwind it that would keep both moderate Republicans and conservatives on board. It was an enormous embarrassment for a party that rode electoral waves to control first the House, then the Senate and then the White House, but has not been able to deliver a major legislative victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a very, very challenging experience for all of us,\u201d Mr. McConnell said. \u201cEverybody\u2019s given it their best shot, and as of today, we just simply do not have 50 senators who can agree on what ought to replace the existing law.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The reaction on Wall Street was muted. Stocks spent most of the day lower as shares of health insurers declined, and the dollar, which has steadily lost ground for most of the year, slipped further.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump has considerable leverage to gum up the works of the Affordable Care Act. He could throw insurance markets into a tailspin at any time by cutting off the subsidy payments to insurers, as he has threatened to do. He could further destabilize the markets by not enforcing the mandate that most Americans have health insurance.<\/span><\/p>\n

And he could cancel advertising and other efforts to encourage enrollment under the Affordable Care Act when the annual sign-up period begins in November. A barrage of negative statements from the administration could project an official view that the health law is collapsing, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lack of certainty over the subsidy payments, which go toward reducing out-of-pocket costs for low-income people, has been a major concern for insurers. The companies say premiums will be significantly higher without the funding, and some companies that have submitted rates to sell insurance in the market next year could decide to pull out.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith open enrollment for 2018 only three months away, our members and all Americans need the certainty and security of knowing coverage will be available and affordable for them,\u201d said Justine Handelman, a senior executive at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Mr. Trump has promised destruction, other Republicans signaled that they wanted to take a more constructive approach. Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, chairman of the Senate health committee, announced that he would hold hearings in the next few weeks on stabilizing the individual health insurance market.<\/span><\/p>\n

Members of both parties have ideas about how to stabilize insurance markets and hold down premiums. One possible action is to provide money for the payments to insurers for reducing customers\u2019 out-of-pocket costs. In addition, two Democratic senators, Thomas R. Carper of Delaware and Tim Kaine of Virginia, want the federal government to help pay the largest claims through a backstop known as reinsurance. Senators of both parties also want to help people in counties where no insurer chooses to offer health plans through the Affordable Care Act marketplace \u2014 a real possibility in some places next year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, implored Republicans to defy Mr. Trump and work with Democrats to strengthen insurance markets.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a fork in the road for our Republican colleagues,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cThey can do what Donald Trump said, which is sabotage the system out of anger and out of pique,\u201d or they can work with Democrats on improvements to the health law.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhether they can resist Trump, I don\u2019t know,\u201d Mr. Schumer said.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats alike were trying to make sense of the repeal effort\u2019s apparent downfall \u2014 and figure out what comes next.<\/span><\/p>\n

The beginning of the end was on Monday night, when two Republican senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas, came out in opposition to the latest version of Mr. McConnell\u2019s bill to repeal and replace the health law. That left Republican leaders at least two votes short of what they needed to start debate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two other Republican senators, Ms. Collins and Rand Paul of Kentucky, had objected last week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. McConnell responded by outlining plans for a vote on a measure like the one vetoed by Mr. Obama in January 2016, which Mr. McConnell said would consist of a \u201crepeal of Obamacare combined with a stable, two-year transition period.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Republican leaders had originally intended to proceed with a similar \u201crepeal and delay\u201d strategy after Mr. Trump won the presidency. But in January, Mr. Trump made clear he wanted a simultaneous repeal and replacement of the law, and congressional Republicans decided to follow that path.<\/span><\/p>\n

A repeal-only route would have been disruptive. The Congressional Budget Office said in January that enacting the vetoed bill would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 18 million in the first year and 32 million by 2026, compared with current law. Premiums, it said, would increase 20 to 25 percent in the first year and double by 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

That bill would have eliminated the Affordable Care Act\u2019s expansion of Medicaid and subsidies for the purchase of private insurance. But it would have left in place the law\u2019s requirement that insurers provide specific benefits, and the prohibition on denying coverage or charging higher premiums because of a person\u2019s pre-existing medical conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The repeal-only idea quickly ran into a wall on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI did not come to Washington to hurt people,\u201d Ms. Capito said in a statement, taking issue with both Mr. McConnell\u2019s bill and the idea of repealing the health law \u201cwithout a replacement plan that addresses my concerns and the needs of West Virginians.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Murkowski said, \u201cThere\u2019s enough chaos and uncertainty already, and this would just contribute to it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea of repealing the health law without providing a replacement also spooked a bipartisan group of 11 governors, including Brian Sandoval of Nevada, an influential Republican critic of Mr. McConnell\u2019s bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Senate should immediately reject efforts to \u2018repeal\u2019 the current system and replace sometime later,\u201d said the group, which included five Republicans, five Democrats and one independent. \u201cThis could leave millions of Americans without coverage. The best next step is for both parties to come together and do what we can all agree on: fix our unstable insurance markets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. McConnell appears determined to drive the effort to a final public showdown with a procedural vote that would let the Senate consider the repeal-only measure. He can afford to lose only two Republican senators, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie. But he already appears to have lost at least three: Ms. Collins, Ms. Murkowski and Ms. Capito.<\/span><\/p>\n

More could still defect, unwilling to be recorded voting for a procedural step in what is all but certain to be a doomed exercise. But that could be an awkward stance for Republicans who voted for the repeal bill that the Senate passed in 2015 and Mr. Obama vetoed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re not willing to vote the same way you voted in 2015,\u201d Mr. Paul said on Tuesday, \u201cthen you need to go back home, and you need to explain to Republicans why you\u2019re no longer for repealing Obamacare.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/07\/18\/us\/politics\/republicans-obamacare-repeal-now-replace-later.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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