McConnell: Draft of Senate health-care bill expected on Thursday
WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that upper chamber Republicans expect to release a draft of their version of the House-approved Obamacare repeal and replacement bill on Thursday and that a floor vote could occur as early as next week.
“I expect to have a discussion draft on Thursday and we will go to the bill obviously once we get a CBO [Congressional Budget Office] score; likely next week,” McConnell told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday accompanied by fellow Senate GOP leaders.
McConnell’s announcement comes less than 24 hours after Senate Democrats mounted a late-night protest via parliamentary inquiries to try and force Republicans to bring the bill out into the open as well as agree to hold hearings upon its release.
Republicans are reportedly crafting the legislation behind closed doors.
The House of Representatives last month narrowly passed a revised version of the American Health Care Act.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in March was forced to pull the original bill from the floor after learning that it did not have sufficient support to pass.
The AHCA mandates coverage for the sick and those with preexisting conditions but also allows insurers to charge higher rates to those persons if they experience a lapse in coverage.
The AHCA also would allow states under certain circumstances to apply for waivers that exempt insurance companies from having to cover many of the essential health benefits that are guaranteed under the Affordable Care Act.
The CBO in May estimated that the AHCA would strip 23 million Americans of their health coverage over the next decade, but also would reduce the federal deficit by $119 billion over the same duration. The CBO estimated that the original bill would have stripped 24 million people of their health coverage.
Several moderate GOP Senators who represent states that have accepted Medicaid expansion plans per the Affordable Care Act have expressed concern over the drastic Medicaid cuts included in the AHCA.
Reported negotiations include proposals to extend the Medicaid expansion sunset date as well as allocate more money to cover people with pre-exisiting conditions.
Democrats have long opposed repealing the Affordable Care Act and have instead tried to convince Republicans to work toward fixing problems associated with the law. Many Democrats have referred to the AHCA as “Trumpcare.”
Congress adjourns on June 29 for one week for the Fourth of July recess.
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.