Republican Senators unveiled a plan to overhaul the Healthcare System. Most of Obama’s Affordable Care Law will be repealed. The Senate plans to do away with the health insurance and to abolish taxes on the wealthy. The bill was released by Senator McConnell, after several weeks of closed-door negotiations.
Major cuts to a government health programs for low-income people
Senator McConnell is expected to present the bill to the Senate sometime next week. Republicans expect to garner the 50 votes needed before returning the new draft to the House for approval.
The House is required to pass the bill, without any further amendments, and send it to President Trump to sign into law.
According to BBC, President Trump had earlier regarded the House version as “mean” and requested Senators to” draft a more generous version.” The major hurdle to the Republicans is getting the 50-votes threshold requirement necessary for pushing the bill forward.
President Donald Trump promised to repeal the affordable care act. The healthcare bill will pass through the Senate, then approved by the House and the President before becoming law. Republicans, who unveiled the bill, will require 50 votes to pass it.
The Better Care Reconciliation Act Of 2017 is a plan that was compiled and presented to the Senate on Thursday, by the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Mr. McConnell told the Senate that Republicans believed they had a “responsibility to act.” Democrats and some Republicans were angered by the Senate bill.
According to BBC, the bill ties federal subsidies to individuals based on their revenue rather than age. The Senate plan eliminates the extension of Medicaid, which is a government health program for the low-income people.
The bill gives states more freedom in demanding that insurers offer necessary health benefits guaranteed under the Affordable Care Act. Around 23 million people will lose their healthcare if the new bill is signed into law according to some estimates.
Contents of the Better Care Reconciliation Act Of 2017
The bill seeks to reduce federal funding for Medicaid, eliminate taxes on the wealthy and to stop the funding of Planned Parenthood for US women.
There were notable distinctions between the House version and the Senate version. The House pinned federal insurance to age, whereas the Senate version bases subsidies on income. Pundits who revised the draft claim that it largely resembles the House version.