Economy

How Republican Women Killed Trumpcare

July 18th 2017

Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare appear to be dead, for now, with conservative lawmakers unable to agree on a path forward for health care in the United States.

On Monday night, the Senate version of the bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) faced yet another defeat when more Republican senators announced they'd be joining Rand Paul (Ky.) and Susan Collins (Maine) in voting against it. Tuesday morning saw Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) urge the Senate to simply repeal the ACA, without a replacement, and let the law sunset after two years. 

That effort ended almost as quickly as it began, with three Republicans coming out against it in quick succession—all women, an ironic twist in light of the fact women were completely shut out of the working group that drafted the Senate bill.

While the Senate's new version of he "Better Care Reconciliation Act" came out on June 28, it took until July 17—when Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas announced their opposition—that the bill effectively died. McConnell then urged the Senate to take up a vote on the repeal bill that passed the House and Senate in late 2015, only to be vetoed by former President Barack Obama.

But almost immediately, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia announced she would vote no on a straight repeal. She was followed by Collins and, an hour later, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, who put the final nail in the coffin. All said they were concerned that a repeal without replacement would severely damage the insurance market, increase premiums, and put their constituents at undue risk.

Republicans have a thin 52-48 majority in the Senate, so McConnell could only afford losing two votes before having to call it quits on repealing or replacing Obamacare. In the case of a tie, Vice President Mike Pence would cast the final vote. With three of the five Republican women in the Senate vowing to vote against it, the repeal effort was effectively dead in a matter of  hours. 

When the Senate first began writing its health care legislation, McConnell was sharply criticized for creating a working group that included 13 men and no women. McConnell insisted that "nobody’s being excluded based on gender," and later invited West Virginia's Capito to at least one of the meetings.

But he didn't make her a permanent member, and no other women appears to have been included in any of the meetings. When the repeal bill died thanks to three women, McConnell's critics couldn't resist pointing out the irony.

With both repeal and replace as well as repeal and do nothing effectively dead, it's unclear what happens now.

After the repeal bill went down, President Donald Trump praised himself for getting most Republicans on board—"impressive by any standard"—and declared the GOP should "let Obamacare fail," which he believes would bring Democrats back to the negotiating table.  "I think we’re probably in that position," Trump said. "We’re not going to own it. I’m not going to own it. I can tell you the Republicans are not going to own it.”

That's a different take on leadership than Trump expressed before becoming president.

Democrats have called for a bipartisan effort to fix the problems with Obamacare, and several Republicans have expressed interest. At this point, whether Trump or McConnell like it or not, the only thing certain is that Obamcare lives to see another day.

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