Obamacare Repeal Has One Last Chance: Report

WASHINGTON, DC — The White House and Senate leadership are working this week behind the scenes to gauge support for a new attempt at repealing Obamacare, according to a report from Politico. If it passes the Senate, it will only be approved on the slimmest of margins — and it needs to make it through before the Sept. 30 deadline.

The legislation is known as the Graham-Cassidy bill, titled for the Republican senators who crafted it. It is much more drastic than previous GOP health care reform bills. Under the new plan, the funding for Obamacare would be reduced, stripped from its ties to the current marketplaces, and allocated on a state-by-state basis depending on a complex formula. Medicaid spending would be cut, the mandate to buy health insurance would end, and protections for people with pre-existing conditions would be weakened.

Analysts believe it would increase the number of the uninsured by tens of millions, as other GOP plans were projected to, but the bill has not been scored by the Congressional Budget Office yet — one of the hurdles it must face before it can become law. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

According to Politico, the bill does not have enough support yet to pass the Senate. However, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who scuttled the most recent Senate attempt to reform health care, has voiced tentative support for the legislation. With the White House and Republican leadership behind the bill, lawmakers may feel substantial pressure to vote for it.

Read the full report at Politico>>

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Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images