Since Sen. Mitch McConnell has indicated he wants to vote on this bill prior to the July 4 recess, there obviously will be little time, at best, for public comment. But Democrats and state lawmakers are deeply opposed to cuts in Medicaid funding among other things, arguing that those provisions will do far more harm to Americans' health than good.
And in a separate statement, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown says the GOP Senate bill would hamper the state's progress in slowing the opioid epidemic, calling Medicaid the "number one tool" in the fight against opioids.
To pass the Senate, with unanimous Democratic opposition expected, Republicans can only afford two defectors. I think they can improve outcomes.
President Donald Trump made calls to fellow Republicans in the US Senate on Friday to mobilise support for their party's healthcare overhaul while acknowledging the legislation is on a "very, very narrow path" to passage. She was asked about the bill's impact on lower-income Iowans now covered by Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Nobody. And this leaves the GOP in the position of trying to make it look like they can still play Santa and hand out all the sugar without the slug of bitter medicine to follow.
In the Sunday interview, Trump said, "I want to see a bill with heart".
Paul said he could get to a yes, if the bill went farther to repeal ObamaCare rules that drive up premiums. Activists and health organizations have argued that the bill's sweeping cuts to Medicaid would be life-threatening to many Americans.
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Pelosi brushed off the tweet , contending that Trump hadn't actually written it himself because "it's a classic Republican line". Meanwhile, the knives seem to be out for Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi , who was demonised by the GOP side in the Georgia race.
Already five Republican senators have said they can not vote for their party's plan as it stands now, with four them saying it does not go far enough to curb provisions under the Obama law and one saying the cuts in healthcare payments for the poor go too far.
Caroline Pearson, a senior vice president of the consulting firm Avalare Health, said the Senate subsidies would be smaller than Obama's because they're keyed to the cost of a bare-bones plan and because additional help now provided for deductibles and copayments would eventually be discontinued. The estimate was released Friday by Arizona's Medicaid agency, which analyzed the effects of the legislation on the state health insurance program for low-income people.
But the bill's supporters were battling a dire internal threat: reluctant Republicans. Sen. Four senators speaking in bloc gives them more negotiating power if their group is larger than the moderates who might vote no. The House-passed American Health Care Act could reverse progress in fighting cancer and shift the economic burden for health coverage back to Montana.
Yes, as conservative health-care expert Avik Roy argues, it insulates the elderly poor from devastation by keeping Obamacare's income-based subsidies for health insurance purchased on the federal exchange instead of the age-based subsidies House Speaker Paul Ryan wanted.
The Senate bill would phase out extra money Obama's law provides to 31 states that agreed to expand coverage under the federal-state Medicaid program.
Whether these protests are enough to kill the bill, or are anything more than political theater, remains to be seen. "There isn't anything in this bill that would lower premiums".
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