President Donald Trump’s dream of passing a health care bill in his first 100 days was shattered on Thursday when House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) decided there wouldn’t be enough votes to pass the legislation this week.
His decision to push back a vote on the latest iteration of Trumpcare evoked more than a little déjà vu. As with his first failed attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, a number of moderate Republicans and influential health care industry groups opposed the bill, Democrats were not included in any discussions, and Republican senators are unsure of the bill’s fate in the Senate. Meanwhile, far-right conservatives continued to make demands and see those demands met.
Fifteen Republicans oppose the bill and 20 are leaning no or haven’t decided yet, Politico reported. The House can’t afford to lose more than 22 votes. Some Republicans who supported earlier versions of Trumpcare said they are undecided this time around, such as Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).
On Wednesday, Coffman quoted a tweet from earlier in the month in which he said pre-existing conditions protections were “vitally important.” Republicans’ latest amendment to the bill gutted protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
A number of health care groups, including the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and the Catholic Health Association, came out against the latest version of the bill on Thursday. On Friday, AARP announced its opposition to the health care legislation. AARP said it sent a letter to each member of the House that told representatives it pledged to “let all 38 million of our members know exactly how their representative votes on this bill.”
Democrats threatened to stop supporting a short-term bill to keep the government open if the health care legislation were scheduled for a vote this week. On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) blocked a measure that would have let the Senate approve a stopgap budget without a formal vote, and said he needed assurances that there would be no “poison pill riders” in the bill.
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