Six Republicans who voted for Obamacare repeal in 2015, decided to vote it down yesterday. But it looks like a far more modest ‘repeal’ of Obamacare could get to 50 votes. Known as a ‘skinny’ repeal, the bill would not reduce Medicaid reductions but would repeal the individual mandate (forcing people to purchase insurance).
The Senate rejected a proposal Wednesday that would have repealed major parts of the Affordable Care Act, but Republican leaders were growing more confident about their chances of passing a more modest overhaul of the health-care law later this week.
Republicans appeared to be coalescing around a “skinny repeal” that would abolish the individual and employer insurance mandates and perhaps just one tax in an attempt to sustain their seven-year quest to unwind President Barack Obama’s health-care law. But even if they succeed — and start negotiations with the House — they will face significant obstacles in accomplishing anything more substantial.
Top Republicans such as Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the chamber’s third-ranking Republican, said that although leaders have not yet found “the sweet spot” between conservatives and centrists, they had picked up support for a more modest plan because it did not include deep cuts to Medicaid. Some Republican senators were simply open to any legislation that could keep alive the roller-coaster push for an overhaul.