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Senate healthcare vote delayed by John McCain blood clot surgery McCain surgery delays health vote as 8-10 senators still have 'serious concerns'
(about 1 hour later)
John McCain’s absence from the Senate as he recovers from surgery has led Republican leadership to postpone consideration of the troubled healthcare bill. John McCain’s absence from the Senate as he recovers from surgery has led Republican leadership to postpone consideration of the troubled healthcare bill. Surgeons in Phoenix removed a blood clot from above 80-year-old McCain’s left eye on Friday.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said late on Saturday night he was deferring action as McCain recovers at his home in Arizona. Surgeons in Phoenix removed a blood clot from above the 80-year-old senator’s left eye on Friday, in a “minimally invasive” procedure. “While John is recovering,” Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement late on Saturday, “the Senate will continue our work on legislative items and nominations, and will defer consideration of the Better Care Act.”
McCain, a three-time survivor of melanoma, was reported to be resting comfortably, having been advised to remain in Arizona next week. McCain predicted last week that the bill would fail when senators back in their home states for the summer recess – which McConnell delayed by three weeks – heard strong opposition from voters.
“While John is recovering,” McConnell said in a statement, “the Senate will continue our work on legislative items and nominations, and will defer consideration of the Better Care Act.” On Sunday, a Washington Post/ABC News poll put public support for Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), popularly known as Obamacare, over its possible Republican replacement at 50% to 24%, or two to one.
A close vote had been predicted for the healthcare bill, with all Democrats and independents against it. With the Republicans holding a 52-48 majority, they can afford to lose only two of their own party. Vice-president Mike Pence would break a tie for final passage. With a 52-48 majority, Republicans can afford to lose only two of their own party. One conservative, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and a moderate, Susan Collins of Maine, have said they will vote against the measure.
Opposition to the Senate bill has come from both the conservative and moderate wings of the party. One conservative, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and a moderate, Susan Collins of Maine, have already said they will vote against the measure. The White House has put its weight behind the bill, with Donald Trump seeking to influence wavering senators, of whom Collins said on Sunday there remained “eight to 10” with “serious concerns”. Collins said she had been contacted by Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus.
On Saturday, two insurance industry giants said in an open letter to McConnell that a provision authored by the Texas conservative Ted Cruz was “simply unworkable in any form” and would “undermine protections for those with pre-existing medical conditions”, increase premiums and lead to “widespread terminations of coverage”. In addition to its effects on access to health insurance, the Senate bill mandates huge cuts to Medicaid, which is relied upon by many old or low-income Americans.
I'd say the only thing more difficult than peace between Israel and the Palestinians is healthcare Addressing a meeting of state governors in Rhode Island this weekend, vice-president Mike Pence said: “President Trump and I believe the Senate healthcare bill strengthens and secures Medicaid for the neediest in our society. And this bill puts this vital American program on a pathway to long-term sustainability.”
The Cruz provision allows insurers to sell basic, “bare bones” plans as well as the comprehensive coverage mandated under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Barack Obama’s healthcare law. The open letter to McConnell was issued by America’s Health Care Plans and the BlueCross BlueShield Association. On CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Collins said she would “respectfully disagree with the vice-president’s analysis”.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office score for the first version of the Senate bill, which McConnell did not put to a vote, said it would cause 22 million people to lose health insurance in 10 years. A House bill, passed in May to great fanfare from President Donald Trump, scored worse with the CBO and is not viewed by Senate Republicans as viable. “This bill would impose fundamental, sweeping changes in the Medicaid program and those include very deep cuts,” she said.
“Those would affect some of the most vulnerable people in society including disabled children and poor seniors. It would affect the rural hospitals, nursing homes. They would have a very difficult time even staying in existence, serving vulnerable populations. So no, I see it very differently.
“You can’t take more than $700bn out of the Medicaid program and not think it’s going to have some kind of effect.”
On CBS’s Face the Nation, Paul said he was against the Senate bill because “it’s not repeal”. “Everybody’s going to discover that it keeps the fundamental flaw of Obamacare,” he said. “It keeps the insurance mandates that cause the prices to rise.”
On Saturday, two insurance industry giants said in an open letter to McConnell that a provision authored by the Texas conservative Ted Cruz was “unworkable in any form” as it would “undermine protections for those with pre-existing medical conditions”, increase premiums and lead to “widespread terminations of coverage”.
The Cruz provision would allow insurers to sell basic, “bare bones” plans as well as the comprehensive coverage mandated under the ACA. The open letter was issued by America’s Health Care Plans and the BlueCross BlueShield Association.
On Sunday, Collins said the Cruz provision was “not the answer”. Paul said that though Cruz and another hardliner, Mike Lee of Utah, were “trying to do what’s right”, their amendment was compromised by having been “done in the context of keeping all of the overall regulatory scheme of Obamacare”.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score for the first version of the Senate bill said it would cause 22 million people to lose access to health insurance in 10 years. A House bill, passed in May to great fanfare from Trump, scored worse.
A new CBO score and a procedural Senate vote had nonetheless been expected in the coming days, the vote cast as a showdown over the replacement of the ACA, which Republicans have tried to achieve for seven years. In 2013 such efforts in the Senate, led by Cruz, led to a government shutdown.
McConnell and other Republican leaders have been urging senators to at least vote in favour of opening debate, which would allow amendments to be offered. In recent days GOP leaders expressed optimism that they were getting closer to a version that could pass the Senate.
On Thursday, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said healthcare reform was “the only thing more difficult than peace between Israel and the Palestinians”.On Thursday, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said healthcare reform was “the only thing more difficult than peace between Israel and the Palestinians”.
“It’s like this narrow road that’s about a quarter of an inch wide,” Trump said. “You get a couple [votes] here and you say, great, and then you find out you just lost four over here. Healthcare is tough.”
McConnell’s version of that quote was to tell a town hall audience in his native Kentucky this month he was “a guy with a Rubik’s cube – trying to twist the dial in such a way to get at least 50 members of my conference who can agree to a version of repealing and replacing Obamacare”.
McCain predicted last week that the Senate bill would fail after lawmakers back in their home states for the summer recess – which McConnell delayed by three weeks – heard strong opposition from voters. As well as its effects on health insurance accessibility, the bill mandates huge cuts to Medicaid, which is relied upon by many old or low-income Americans.
On Friday and Saturday, White House figures including Pence met state governors meeting in Rhode Island, aiming to secure backing for the Senate bill. Little success was reported.
A procedural Senate vote expected in the coming days had been cast as a showdown over the measure designed to replace the ACA, commonly known as Obamacare. Republicans in Congress have tried to repeal and replace the ACA for seven years. In 2013 such efforts in the Senate, led by Cruz, led to a government shutdown.
McConnell and other party leaders have been urging senators to at least vote in favor of opening debate, which would allow senators to offer amendments. In recent days GOP leaders had expressed optimism that they were getting closer to a version that could pass the Senate.