Republicans delay House vote to repeal Affordable Care Act
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Version 4 of 10. The Republicans on Thursday abandoned a vote on their plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as Donald Trump and House speaker Paul Ryan faced rebellion across the House Republican caucus. According to a leadership aide, the scheduled Thursday House vote on the bill was delayed at least for one day as Republicans scramble to find legislation that can achieve a majority within the chamber. Only a couple of hours earlier, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told his regular press briefing: “It’s gonna pass – so that’s it.” Members of both the hard right Freedom Caucus and the moderate Tuesday Group went to the White House on Thursday as Trump tried to personally persuade them to back the plan introduced by Ryan. Moderates objected to last-minute legislative additions that rolled back Medicaid and were even more suspicious of the Freedom Caucus’s push to get rid of so-called essential benefits, that require insurance to cover benefits such as maternity and mental health care. By contrast, conservatives objected to any legislation that didn’t repeal all regulations in the landmark health insurance reform of 2010. That left Republicans who campaigned to “repeal and replace” Obamacare, but never reached a consensus about the phrase’s meaning, deadlocked. The president, who prides himself on being the ultimate deal-maker, put himself at the heart of the effort to get the bill passed, travelling to Capitol Hill to meet with reluctant lawmakers, hosting talks at the White House and staging a rally in Kentucky, home state of Senator Rand Paul, a key Republican opponent on the measure. Republicans had hoped to pass the bill on the seventh anniversary of Obama signing the Affordable Care Act, which allowed for the greatest expansion of healthcare coverage in more than a generation. Obama, on Thursday, urged lawmakers to work together to “make our healthcare system better, not worse for hardworking Americans”, in one of his most significant interventions in US politics since leaving office. The Republican plan, known as the American Health Care Act, ends ACA taxes, eliminates the requirement that all Americans have insurance and dramatically cuts Medicaid, the healthcare program for low-income Americans. Instead of subsidies, the plan would offer tax credits to help people purchase health insurance. A new Quinnipiac University poll showed that Americans disapprove of the healthcare overhaul by a margin of 56% to 17% – with support among Republicans hovering at just 41%. The same poll showed 20% felt Obamacare should be repealed in total and 50% in part. “Do I think it gives the president a loss?” asked Mark Meadows, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus. “Absolutely not. We are going to get to the finish line.” The North Carolina representative gave credit to Trump for progress. “We are hopeful as we start to make progress in these negotiations with some of the things the White House shared with us,” said Meadows. “We would not be where we are today in even considering this if it had not been for President Trump’s personal involvement ... He’s moved this a very long way. Not only for House Freedom Caucus but for other members.” He said that the vote on Thursday night had been an artificial deadline and more time was needed because, “we believe some of the things we are being asked to consider are not in enough of a form to make a good informed decision on”. But he insisted that a vote would happen because repealing the ACA was something that he, the Freedom Caucus and the president had all campaigned on. Other Freedom Caucus members were also optimistic a deal would be reached. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania told reporters: “I think a lot of us are going to get yes, we just gotta keep working through it.” He noted his fellow conservatives “have been been negotiating with administration and leadership the whole time. Obviously, sometimes it takes a little bit longer to get there.” Andy Harris of Maryland said the Freedom Caucus had rejected the administration’s offer to remove the requirement that the healthcare plan include the 10 essential benefits without meeting other conservative demands, including getting rid of the ban on insurance companies denying coverage for lifetime limits. He said “we want to get to yes”, but added that the Freedom Caucus was now waiting for another counter-offer and felt no pressure to moderate their demands. “We are not in the position to offer a legislative solution,” said Harris. “The people who are in the position are the administration and the leadership.” However, in a further blow to the bill, the Congressional Budget Office released an updated estimate suggesting that the revised proposals would save much less money - reducing the deficit by $150 billion over 10 years compared to $337 billion on the initial draft. It would still leave an estimated 24 million more people without insurance in a decade. The decision to delay the vote postponed a dramatic showdown on the House floor. The eleventh-hour negotiations broke down after Trump and the Republican leadership failed to secure enough support for the legislation, which tried to placate conservatives and moderates in the party and in the end could not bridge the ideological gap. For weeks, conservatives threatened to sink the bill, which they believe did not do enough to repeal the ACA. For more than a week, White House officials furiously lobbied the coalition of hard-right conservatives, even convening a summit at Trump’s Mar-a-lago estate in Florida, in an all-out effort to strike a deal. On Wednesday, Meadows had warned leadership to postpone the bill and “start over”. But by the day’s end, he emerged from a meeting with the president hopeful that they would reach a deal before Thursday’s planned vote. On Thursday morning, more than 30 members of the Freedom Caucus returned to the White House for what was thought to be the final negotiation before the vote. They left without reaching a deal. Still scrambling, Trump invited a coalition of moderate Republicans to the White House for a meeting in hopes of securing their votes. Moderates had begun dropping their support for the plan amid speculation that Trump was considering cutting popular elements of the ACA to placate conservatives. By mid-afternoon, leadership announced the vote had been postponed. Trump, however, seemed to be oblivious as he met with a delegation of truckers at the White House, jumping into the cab of an 18-wheeler to pose for photographs, and telling them the vote was pressing ahead that night. “We have a great bill, and I think we have a very good chance,” he said, adding: “Obamacare has inflicted great pain on American truckers. Many of you were forced to buy heath insurance on the Obamacare exchanges. You experienced a crippling rise in premiums, and a dramatic loss in options.” |