The longtime Republican dream of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act hit a major bump in the road on Monday night, losing the votes needed to advance their replacement bill.
After being down four votes in the Senate — five including Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who is recovering from surgery — Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) conceded Monday that the GOP’s current effort to repeal and replace Obamacare “will not be successful.”
But McConnell didn’t completely give up. The GOP’s initial platform of “repeal and replace” shifted out of desperation to “repeal and delay” — quickly pivoting back to a deeply unpopular strategy that many Republicans oppose.
So many Republicans oppose it that, as of Tuesday, McConnell once again lacks the votes needed to move forward with health care legislation.
Repeal and delay would mean repealing Obamacare completely and then providing a transitional two-year period before the repeal would take effect, allowing Republicans more time to figure out what to do next.
It would effectively jeopardize the lives of millions who depend on the coverage they have through health care reform. Repeal and delay is a dangerous option that amounts to playing with fire with the insurance industry. Because the individual market depends on being able to predict future rates, an uncertain future without an alternative to Obamacare would be catastrophic for insurers and those who rely on insurance.
Republicans in Congress already know all of this because we’ve been through this debate before. At the beginning of 2017, the repeal and delay strategy was so unpopular that the GOP abandoned it in favor of working on replacement legislation. The same thing played out even more quickly on Tuesday, as dissent mounted in a matter of hours.
Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) showed his concern over legislation that would “just repeal” Tuesday morning.
GOP Sen. Rob Portman: “If it is a bill that simply repeals, I believe that will add to more uncertainty” and higher premiums. (via @kasie) pic.twitter.com/BKVuIaTGxW
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 18, 2017
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) firmly came out against repeal and delay.
My latest statement on the Senate health care bill & planned vote to repeal Obamacare: pic.twitter.com/yAVIxgptCu
— Shelley Moore Capito (@SenCapito) July 18, 2017
Collins opposes MTP on straight repeal of Obamacare: "I do not think that it is going to be constructive." (via @MSNBC) pic.twitter.com/K9tziwgbGX
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 18, 2017
Sen. Lisa Murkowksi (R-AK) ultimately delivered the final blow early Tuesday afternoon.
Murkowski: "I'm a no"
— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) July 18, 2017
At the beginning of the year, before the GOP coalesced around a replacement bill, Republicans initially suggested moving forward with a total Obamacare repeal and delaying its implementation. But that option wasn’t very popular among Republican lawmakers like Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) — and even President Donald Trump himself — who all came out against repeal and delay.
Disastrous #Obamacare has led to higher costs & fewer options. It will only continue to get worse! We must #RepealANDReplace. #PassTheBill
— President Trump (@POTUS) March 24, 2017
Sen. Cotton told MSNBC in January that “kicking the can down the road for two years isn’t going to make it any easier to solve.”
Sen. Corker highlighted that a simultaneous repeal and repeals was a core platform of the Trump campaign. He told Politico in January that “during the campaign [Trump] said that repeal and replace should take place simultaneously. To me that is the most prudent course of action.”
I just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and he fully supports my plan to replace Obamacare the same day we repeal it. The time to act is now.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 7, 2017
This position especially concerns members of Congress from states that implemented Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. “I’m from a state that has an expanded Medicaid population that I’m very concerned about. I don’t want to throw them off into the cold,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) back in December. “I don’t think that’s a strategy I that I want to see. It’s too many people. That’s over 200,000 in my state.”
This piece has been updated to include additional comments from Republican lawmakers coming out against repeal and delay.