Republican senators are planning to pursue a “skinny” repeal of Obamacare if Tuesday’s Senate votes to open debate on health care and pass the current GOP bill both fail.
Rep. Blake Farenthold (R, Texas) said Monday it is “absolutely repugnant” that the Republican-led Senate has not fulfilled its promise to repeal Obamacare, suggesting that, under slightly different circumstances, a duel might be the best way to resolve the issue.
Next week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) is planning to begin a motion for debate to repeal Obamacare only, after the Senate’s replacement bill could not gain enough votes to pass. Sally Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, warns that lawmakers should keep their promise to the American people to repeal and replace Obamacare with market-based solutions.
The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, the Senate Republican replacement to the Affordable Care Act, is estimated to reduce the deficit by $321 billion from 2017 to 2026, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s scoring of the legislation.
The Senate health care bill designed to replace the Affordable Care Act has drawn criticism from conservative Republican lawmakers who say the measure does not go far enough to repeal Obamacare.
