TULSA — In the end, monolithic opposition by Democrats coupled with opposition from the far right doomed Friday’s vote on the American Health Care Act, the GOP bill that would have repealed and replaced the law commonly known as “Obamacare.”
GOP leadership decided to pull the bill, realizing that it could not pass.
The Trump administration made it clear early Friday that negotiations were over, and the president wanted an up or down vote Friday.
House Speaker Paul Ryan went to the White House to report he didn’t have the votes to pass the bill; President Trump had previously said win or lose, Rep. Ryan should keep his position as Speaker.
The GOP plan (AHCA) would have ended the mandate that all Americans pay for health insurance, replacing it with a plan where the federal government would give Americans tax credits, based on age.
That would have saved taxpayers billions of dollars, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, but would have left 24 million additional Americans without health coverage within the next decade.
Many governors, including some Republicans, also had serious concerns about the additional burdens passed on to states under the AHCA.