Winners And Losers Under The House GOP Health Bill

Twenty Republicans joined the opposition, along with all Democrats, in the most contentious congressional vote of Trump’s young presidency.

Dozens of House Republicans gathered at the White House Rose Garden with President Donald Trump to celebrate their health-care bill’s narrow approval by a 217 to 213 margin. And that is the reason why we have to repeal this law and put in place real vibrant market place with competition and lower premium for families.

“There is no guarantee in the law that people with pre-existing conditions would get access to affordable coverage”, said Kaiser’s Levitt.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the House bill poses “more questions than answers about its consequences”. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., whose state did not enlarge Medicaid, said he would not back a health care bill “that rewards people for taking Medicaid expansion at the expense of those who did not”.

And at the same time, the Republicans had begun to show that perhaps they can come together and govern the country now that they control Washington in full.

The momentum appeared to carry over beyond health care. But as a moderate, Upton was troubled by changes to the bill aimed at placating conservatives. Numerous 31 states that accepted Obama’s expansion of that program are led by GOP governors, and senators have no interest in cutting their states’ funds and taking coverage away from voters. The bill is far from becoming reality.

One of those amendments – which lets states waive the Obamacare guarantee that consumers will not pay more because of pre-existing conditions and create so-called high-risk pools – has proven particularly controversial.

“They are rolling cases of beer into Capitol and coming to the White House afterwards for a celebration”, Josh Dawsey, the White House reporter for Politico, tweeted.

“If they strip away the protections for pre-existing condition, I can’t imagine that there’s going to be anyone who will insure me”, he said. And Upton and Long were back to “yes”.

Some 20 million Americans gained healthcare coverage under Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act, which has recently gathered support in public opinion polls. They won passage only after overcoming their own divisions that almost sank the measure six weeks ago. The House faced a recess next week and administration officials anxious their window of opportunity could be closing.

“We want to brag about this plan, really!”

“I happened to be the majority leader and the former whip”. Am I doing – OK, I am president.

“This proposal takes a bad bill and makes it worse”, said Sarah Howell, executive director of Montana Women Vote.

On Thursday, a united Republican front presented their floor vote as a rescue mission, a unity exercise and a moral imperative. Leaders rallied rank-and-file lawmakers at a closed-door meeting early Thursday by playing “Eye of the Tiger”, the rousing 1980s song from the “Rocky III” film.

“The upside for Republicans is that they can return to their districts and tell GOP voters that they acted on a campaign promise”, said Nathan Gonzales, the editor of Inside Elections.

Ryan shed his typical cool and wonky demeanor for something more like a high school football coach rallying the team before homecoming. “We’re going to have great healthcare very soon”. “Hey, I am president, do you believe it, right?” he asked the lawmakers.

Republicans cheered Ryan as Democrats jeered.

Later in NY, during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Trump continued to boast about his party’s “big day”. Twenty Republicans and all of the Democrats voted against it. The federal government has borrowed money to encourage people to participate in Obamacare and to bring insurance companies on board, but it’s been to little avail, he said.

Finally, he extended an invitation.

“If you voted for this bill, you walk the plank, from moderate to radical”, she said.

As Republicans move closer to dismantling Democrat Barack Obama’s health care law, Americans with serious illnesses are feeling uneasy.

Trump noted that the negotiations on the health care bill helped unify Republicans.