Last week, Republicans finally revealed their alternative plan to Obamacare. Despite support from party leaders and Donald Trump, not all GOP members of Congress are on board.

Trump backlash

For the last eight years, Republicans were at odds with the Democratic Party on how to handle health care in the United States. Even before former President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, into law, conservatives made opposition to the reform their number one priority. Vowing to repeal Obamacare became a prerequisite to run as a conservative lawmaker, and was one of the cornerstones of Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

After the 2016 election cycle, it was only a matter of time before Republicans pushed to repeal Obamacare, especially after gaining control of the White House and all of Congress. On Tuesday, Trump met with a group of Republican congressman, and issued a threat to those who don't support the bill. Trump's warning appears to have backfired as NBC News reported on March 22 that even more GOP members of Congress are now in opposition.

Prior to the aforementioned meeting, 17 Republicans in the House of Representatives had been opposed to the GOP health care bill, known as the American Health Care Act.

During the meeting, Donald Trump reportedly threatened those who don't back the bill, while singling out Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows, and telling him, "I'm gonna come after you."

According to NBC News, the number of Republicans who are either against the bill, or "strongly" leaning in opposition, is at 27.

In order for the bill to pass, the consensus is that Donald Trump can't have anymore than 20 defections from his own party as support among Democratic members of the House is virtually nonexistent.

Moving forward

From the day the American Health Care Act was rolled out, criticism quickly followed. Republican Sen. Rand Paul was the first to openly speak out, which resulted in a public spat with House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Just last week, the Congressional Budget Office revealed their analysis, predicting that as many as 24 million Americans would lose their insurance over the next 10 years if the bill was signed into law. While Donald Trump and company do their best to spin the health care bill as a positive, it might not even make it out of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
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