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House Passed Bill to Cut Affordable Care Act; Doctors Condemn It; Senate Will Craft Their Own Bill
The House voted 217-213 this afternoon in favor of a bill that seeks to eliminate many of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act leaving tens of millions of Americans without healthcare in exchange for eliminating taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
Democrats accused Republicans of ramming the bill through without fully understanding its provisions or its implications. The House voted on the bill without any knowledge about how many Americans will be affected, or the measure's price tag. That's because the Congressional Budget Office, the official scorekeeper, hasn't had a chance to analyze the amended bill. But the CBO estimated an earlier version of the measure would mean 24 million people could lose their insurance.
The bill would cut taxes imposed by the Affordable Care Act, and slash funding for Medicaid, which was expanded under the ACA, by more than $800 billion. The bill included last-minute amendments designed to draw votes from the most conservative House Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus as well as from their more moderate counterparts.
An array of medical groups, led by the American Medical Association, had opposed the measure. The retirees' group AARP also had opposed the GOP bill.
The bill was called "a monstrosity" by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who said centrist Republicans who voted for the bill will have "walked the plank from moderate to radical," adding "you will glow in the dark," after voting for the bill.
Few Senate Republicans have expressed any interest in the House plan, and it's expected to be significantly altered when it reaches that chamber..... Polls have shown the GOP measure to be extremely unpopular with voters, potentially placing at risk the political careers of lawmakers who back it.
The American Medical Association, the largest group of doctors in the world, condemned the bill.
[The American Medical Association] blasted the House Thursday for passing a GOP measure repealing large parts of ObamaCare, warning that the bill could turn back the clock on protections for patients with pre-existing conditions.
"The bill passed by the House today will result in millions of Americans losing access to quality, affordable health insurance and those with pre-existing health conditions face the possibility of going back to the time when insurers could charge them premiums that made access to coverage out of the question," American Medical Association (AMA) President Andrew Gurman said in a statement.
Sources:
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/04/526866090/house-passes-gop-health-care-bill