Shortly after Senate Republicans released their long-awaited bill today to dismantle much of former President Barack Obama’s health care law, Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy vowed to “study the bill to determine whether it fulfills President Trump’s campaign promises to lower premiums, maintain coverage and protect those with preexisting conditions without mandates.”
“The bill includes elements of the Patient Freedom Act and the MAC Act—which is positive,” Cassidy said in a brief, prepared statement. Louisiana’s other Republican senator, Sen. John Kennedy, has yet to release a statement about the bill.
The Associated Press reports the bill would provide less-generous tax credits to help people buy insurance and allow states to get waivers to ignore some coverage standards that the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, currently requires of insurers. And it would end the tax penalties under Obama’s law on people who don’t buy insurance—the so-called individual mandate—and on larger companies that don’t offer coverage to their employees.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hopes to push it through his chamber next week, but solid Democratic opposition—and complaints from at least a half-dozen Republicans—have left its fate unclear.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said a health care overall proposal by the House would cause 23 million people to lose coverage by 2026. The budget office’s analysis of the Senate measure is expected in the next few days.
The Associated Press has the full story.
