Senate health bill update
Posted on: 7/19/17
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday said he will not move forward with the Better Care Reconciliation Act, legislation to repeal and replace parts of the Affordable Care Act, after Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) said they could not support the bill. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Rand Paul (R-KY) had already said they would not vote for a Motion to Proceed on the bill. McConnell has indicated he intends to hold a vote on outright repeal of the ACA “in the very near future.”
“Repeal without any effort to replace would leave millions of patients at risk during their most vulnerable times,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack in a statement. “Our hope is that the Senate will use this opportunity to regroup and work in a bipartisan manner to make the much-needed repairs and refinements, creating a health care system that can stand the test of time. We ask Congress to extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program and vital rural health programs and stabilize the Health Insurance Marketplaces by funding the cost-sharing reduction payments. America’s hospitals and health systems stand ready to help.” (AHA Today, July 18, 2017)