The latest attempt to repeal Obamacare has concluded in a surprising fashion: Republican Senator John McCain joined Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowitz, also Republicans, in voting against the ‘skinny repeal’ of Obamacare.
Though McCain did cast his vote last week in favour of continuing with the debate on health care legislation, shortly after revealing that he has been diagnosed with brain cancer, the Arizona senator ultimately decided against the motion to repeal Obamacare.
In a statement, McCain said, “While the amendment would have repealed some of Obamacare’s most burdensome regulations, it offered no replacement to actually reform our health care system and deliver affordable, quality health care to our citizens. The Speaker’s statement that the House would be ‘willing’ to go to conference does not ease my concern that this shell of a bill could be taken up and passed at any time.”
The three Republican senators joined all 48 Democratic senators in voting not to repeal Obamacare. Via Twitter, Donald Trump commented:
3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
If Republicans are going to pass great future legislation in the Senate, they must immediately go to a 51 vote majority, not senseless 60…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
…Even though parts of healthcare could pass at 51, some really good things need 60. So many great future bills & budgets need 60 votes….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
This could have been the Republicans’ last chance to repeal Obamacare: the Senate has tried different variations of repealing the healthcare legislation, and Trump claimed that he would repeal and replace Obamacare “immediately”. However, none of the bills associated with any attempts garnered as much support from Republican senators as did the skinny repeal. This, in part, may be due to the fact that it did not adequately fulfill campaign promises of rolling back Medicaid expansion, Obamacare taxes, insurance regulations, and insurance subsidies. Though the bill would repeal Obamacare, it ultimately did not address many of the other issues both parties perceive healthcare in the United States to have.
The vote to not repeal Obamacare is good news for the additional 23 million Americans that would have been without health insurance by 2026, as well as the millions of Americans who rely on the legislature. The decision not to repeal Obamacare may also bode well for healthcare providers and insurance companies, as would further investments in healthcare infrastructure.
