{"id":12359,"date":"2017-07-27T00:34:34","date_gmt":"2017-07-27T00:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/07\/27\/whats-next-in-the-health-care-debate\/"},"modified":"2017-07-27T00:34:34","modified_gmt":"2017-07-27T00:34:34","slug":"whats-next-in-the-health-care-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/whats-next-in-the-health-care-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"What's Next In The Health Care Debate?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Scott Neuman<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican lawmakers are hashing out potential health care plans, though a repeal-only and a repeal-and-replace option have failed in the last two days.<\/p>\n

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Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Senate Republicans have at least narrowed the options on what comes next for the Affordable Care Act \u2014 casting two separate votes since Tuesday that knocked out a “repeal-only” proposal and rejected a plan for replacement.<\/p>\n

So, as lawmakers resume debate on Thursday, they will be staring at basically one possibility: a so-called “skinny repeal” that would surgically remove some key provisions from Obamacare, while leaving the rest intact \u2014 at least for now.<\/p>\n

The skinny repeal would take out requirements for individuals and employers to get health insurance \u2014 a feature that is central to the Affordable Care Act’s goal of expanding risk pools and lowering costs. The GOP plan would get rid of the medical device tax, intended as a revenue source to fund the current health law. The proposal would also eliminate a public health fund provision.<\/p>\n

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Senators have already rejected the Better Care Reconciliation Act replacement plan and a repeal-only proposal so far. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the Better Care Reconciliation Act would have left 22 million more people uninsured<\/a> by 2026, whereas simply repealing Obamacare without an immediate replacement would have resulted in 32 million more without health care insurance<\/a> in the same time frame. The CBO estimated on Wednesday, at the request of Democrats, that a skinny repeal could result in 16 million more uninsured<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nine GOP senators said no to the Better Care Reconciliation Act on Tuesday: Susan Collins of Maine, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Bob Corker of Tennessee, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Dean Heller of Nevada, Mike Lee of Utah, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky.<\/p>\n