Republicans who were likely to vote against the AHCA, March 2017
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The United States House of Representatives was expected to vote on the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA)—a reconciliation bill that proposed modifying the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare—on Thursday, March 23, 2017, but the vote was canceled. It was rescheduled for Friday, March 24, but House Republican leaders withdrew the bill amid dwindling support. Two amendments added to the bill—one that would have allowed work requirements and block grants in Medicaid, and another that would have repealed the ACA’s essential benefits provision—did little to garner support among Republicans in opposition.[1][2][3]
As of March 24, 2017, 36 representatives and 12 senators had expressed opposition to the healthcare bill. With reports of accepted amendments, it was unclear if members of the House Freedom Caucus had changed their stances. If all Democratic representatives and senators had voted against the AHCA—which they were expected to do—and more than 22 Republican representatives and two Republican senators voted against the bill, it would have failed.
Background
Conservative and libertarian-leaning Republicans—led by members of the House Freedom Caucus, the Republican Study Committee, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)—criticized the AHCA because it would not have fully repealed the ACA, included an extended period for the Medicaid expansion, and replaced income-based subsidies in the ACA with age-based tax credits, which they said was a new entitlement. Some Republicans in the Senate criticized the bill because they opposed the changes to Medicaid. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) criticized the bill because it proposed defunding organizations like Planned Parenthood that provided women's healthcare services, as well as abortion services.[4][5][6][7]
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Reps. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Greg Walden (R-Ore.) countered opposition in their party by explaining that they wanted to make additional changes to the healthcare system but that they had to put forward a bill that had a chance of passing the Senate. Walden said that passing a full repeal of the ACA would require support from Democrats, but Democrats said that they were strongly opposed to a full repeal. Because a repeal bill would not have met the 60-vote threshold, Walden and Brady proposed a reconciliation bill that would have only needed a simple majority to pass in the Senate. Walden said, “Part of what we’re getting criticized for is what’s not in this bill. There are a lot of things that we will do going forward in the next bucket that we are prohibited from putting in this bill because of the rules of the Senate on reconciliation. So we could load this thing up, but then you got to get 60 votes in the Senate. You can get 60 votes in the Senate, I’m all for doing more. I want to get as much reform as I can here. This is the start. This is one piece.”[8]
No Democratic members of Congress expressed support for the AHCA. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the bill "hands billionaires a massive new tax break while shifting huge costs and burdens onto working families across America." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the bill "would cut and cap Medicaid, defund Planned Parenthood, and force Americans, particularly older Americans, to pay more out of pocket for their medical care all so insurance companies can pad their bottom line."[9]
Click here to read more about the American Health Care Act of 2017.
Republicans who were likely to vote against the AHCA
Opposition in the House to the AHCA
The following table indicated why some Republican representatives expressed opposition to the AHCA. As of March 24, 2017, 36 representatives had expressed opposition to the healthcare bill. If all Democratic representatives voted against the AHCA—which they were expected to do—and more than 22 Republican representatives voted against the bill, it would have failed. With reports of accepted amendments, it was unclear if members of the House Freedom Caucus had changed their stances. The below representatives who expressed opposition to the bill were based on the original version of the bill.
*Note: On March 22, 2017, GOP leadership said that this representative changed his or her mind and would vote for the bill.[10]
**Note: On March 24, 2017, Harris said that he was undecided on the bill.[11]
Opposition in the Senate to the AHCA
The following table indicated why some Republican senators expressed opposition to the AHCA. As of March 22, 2017, 12 senators had expressed opposition to the healthcare bill. If all Democratic senators voted against the AHCA—which they were expected to do—and more than two Republican senators voted against the bill, it would have failed.
See also
- 115th Congress on healthcare, 2017-2018
- Federal policy on healthcare, 2017-2020
- American Health Care Act of 2017
- Alternative proposals to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
- Obamacare overview
- Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "Thursday vote on health care bill canceled," accessed March 23, 2017
- ↑ The Hill, "House cancels ObamaCare repeal vote as GOP defections mount," accessed March 24, 2017
- ↑ PBS.org, "WATCH: Paul Ryan speaks after Republicans withdraw health care bill," accessed March 24, 2017
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Conservative Groups Jeopardize GOP Plan to Repeal Affordable Care Act," accessed March 6, 2017
- ↑ Yahoo.com, "GOP Sen. Susan Collins: House Obamacare repeal bill won't be 'well received' in Senate," accessed March 8, 2017
- ↑ The Atlantic, "How Planned Parenthood Could Derail Obamacare Repeal," accessed March 8, 2017
- ↑ Rob Portman: United States Senator for Ohio, "GOP Senators Say House Health Care Draft Lacks Key Protections for Medicaid Expansion Population," March 6, 2017
- ↑ The Washington Time, "Greg Walden: We could load up health care plan — with 60 votes in Senate," accessed March 10, 2017
- ↑ Fox News, "House Republicans release long-awaited ObamaCare replacement bill," accessed March 7, 2017
- ↑ The Hill, "GOP faces risky decision on ObamaCare vote," accessed March 22, 2017
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Rep. Comstock to vote against health care bill," accessed March 24, 2017
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