Summary: The “skinny repeal” of Obamacare was voted down in the Senate on Thursday evening. 

In the wee hours of the night, Democrats and three Republicans killed the “skinny repeal” of Obamacare. The move devastated Republican leaders such as Senator Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump, but it was met with joy from liberals, who needed Republican support to strike down the repeal.

On Friday, Trump expressed his disappointment on Twitter.

“3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!” Trump said on his private account.

Senate Majority Leader McConnell, who drafted the “skinny repeal,” blamed Democrats for the loss, according to Politico. 

“I imagine many of our colleagues on the other side are celebrating, probably pretty happy about this,” a  McConnell said. “But the American people are hurting and they need relief.”

Democrats were staunchly opposed to McConnell’s controversial bill, which would have defunded Planned Parenthood and other provisions of the Affordable Care Act. The closed-door nature of the drafting drew ire from liberals, and the bill was also opposed by two female Republican senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.

Since the Republicans had a majority in the Senate, the vote was unclear, but on Thursday night, Republican Senator John McCain seemingly went rogue and voted “no.”

As McConnell looked on, McCain walked up to vote with his hand up, as if he were about to give a “yes.” Then in dramatic fashion, he said “no” and flipped his thumb down, inciting gasps and scattered applause throughout the chamber as McConnell stared in shock.

“From the beginning, I have believed that Obamacare should be repealed and replaced with a solution that increases competition, lowers costs, and improves care for the American people. The so-called ‘skinny repeal’ amendment the Senate voted on today would not accomplish those goals,” McCain said. “While the amendment would have repealed some of Obamacare’s most burdensome regulations, it offered no replacement to actually reform our health care system and deliver affordable, quality health care to our citizens. The Speaker’s statement that the House would be ‘willing’ to go to conference does not ease my concern that this shell of a bill could be taken up and passed at any time.”

McCain’s vote of “no” brought the total of naysayers to 51, against the 49 Republican yeses.

The three Republicans who defected were praised by some members of their party, including Republican governor John Kasich, who commended McCain, Collins, and Murkowski for their “courage.”

House Leader Paul Ryan, a Republican, said that it was “time to move on” and that he wanted his party to focus on the tax code.

Republican Mo Brooks, however, was more scathing and blamed McConnell for the failure. He said that McConnell should pressure the senate to pass a new version of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act or step down from his leadership role in the Senate.

“If Mitch McConnell cannot get the job done on this, how is he going to get the job done on the rest of President Trump’s agenda over the next three and a half years?” Brooks said BBC.

According to the BBC, if the repeal would have moved forward, 16 million people would have lost their health insurance by the year 2026 and premiums would have risen by 20%.

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Summary: The Senate health care bill died on Monday night.

On Monday evening, two new Republican senators defected from their party and killed the Senate health care bill. The bill needed three “no” votes to end its time in Congress, and the two senators from Utah and Kansas joined Maine’s Susan Collins and Kentucky’s Rand Paul, who had already defected.

Hearing the news, President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday that the Republicans should focus on repealing Obamacare and not just repealing and replacing.

“Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Health care Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!” Trump tweeted.

On Tuesday, Trump added a thinly veiled reference to the defecting Republicans, noting that they were not loyal to the party.

“We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republicans were loyal, terrific & worked really hard. We will return!” Trump tweeted.

The Republicans Trump was most likely referencing were Senator Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas. The two newbies said on Monday that they would not support putting the controversial Trumpcare bill to a vote on the floor. After Collins and Paul announced their decision to vote “no,” Lee and Moran decided to work together to defect to help ease some of the back lash they predicted they’d receive, according to CNN. 

“We should not put our stamp of approval on bad policy,” Moran said in a statement.

In late June, the bill was unveiled after it had been revised in secret, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had pressed for a vote to happen in as little as a week. The vote was stalled, however, when Republican Senator John McCain who planned to vote “yes” needed emergency surgery. Moran said that the Republicans “closed-door process” in drafting the Senate bill did not address health care costs.

Lee’s statement mentioned that he had spoken to experts and after their analysis, he knew he could not support the bill.

“After conferring with trusted experts regarding the latest version of the Consumer Freedom Amendment, I have decided I cannot support the current version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act,” said the statement attributed to Sen. Lee. “In addition to not repealing all of the Obamacare taxes, it doesn’t go far enough in lowering premiums for middle-class families; nor does it create enough free space from the most costly Obamacare regulations.”

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky had said that he would vote against the bill for similar reasons that Moran presented.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine opposed the bill because it removes protections for people with pre-existing health conditions and cuts Medicaid.

According to Buzzfeed, “The development puts the GOP leadership’s bid to repeal and replace Obamacare in crisis. Unless two of these four senators change their mind, the bill is dead. And other senators who have yet to declare could also end up voting against the bill.”

Senate Majority Leader McConnell said on Monday that the repeal and replace of Obamacare was not a success.

“Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful,” McConnell said.

• Senate Unveils Health Care Bill  
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Summary: The GOP’s latest health care bill has been revealed to Senate voters. 

Republicans worked entirely in secret on the Senate health care bill, and on Thursday, the bill had a coming out party–finally being revealed to the public. This is the first time that the majority of the Senate GOP conference was finally able to read the health care proposal, which is the GOP-alternative to Obamacare.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing for a vote next week, according to CNN, and that means that senators only get a few days to review the bill, which would affect the healthcare of millions of Americans.

ABC News spoke to a few Republican senators who had just received the bill, and they overall sounded confident and excited to read it.

“A person making about $12,000 a year will have more access and a lower cost of health insurance. And that’s a really good thing,” Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina said.

Their Democratic counterparts, however, seemed displeased. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senator Minority Leader, said that the new bill was “every bit as bad” as the American Health Care Act passed in the House.

“The president said the Senate bill needed heart. The way this bill cuts health care is heartless,” Schumer said. “The president said the House bill was mean. The Senate bill may be meaner.”

CNN reported that the bill is similar to the draft that the House had passed last month, but the publication said there were a few major changes. Similarities include repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate, defunding Planned Parenthood, and cutting back federal support of Medicaid, but changes between the House and Senate bill include:

• The Senate bill will continue the Medicaid expansion funding from Obamacare until the year 2021. After that, Medicaid will phase out over three years.
• People earning up to 350% above the poverty line will be eligible for health insurance subsidies. With Obamacare, people who are 400% above the poverty line are eligible.
• The Senate bill opted to keep Obamacare’s subsidies to prevent funds from being used for abortions.

The secrecy of this latest draft was intentional, according to CNN. McConnell’s strategy was to work without criticism until the bill was ready, and the publication said that he “has very little room for error” because he can only lose two Republican votes and get the bill passed.

Last month, the House had passed another version of the bill, and while Republicans like Paul Ryan celebrated the event, President Donald Trump condemned the reform behind closed doors as “mean.” However, he seems to like the Senate’s version. At a White House “Emerging Technology” event on Thursday, Trump said, “It’s going to be very good. A little negotiation but it’s going to be very good.”

It is unclear how the Senate will vote as lawmakers have seemed to be divided on health care policy in the past. Lawmakers are also waiting on the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report that outlines how much the new bill will cost the government.

• House Republicans Pass Controversial Healthcare Bill 
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Source: CNN

What do you think of the Senate’s new healthcare bill? Let us know in the comments below.

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A letter sent by 11 Attorneys General to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explains why Obama’s “administrative fix” to problems in rolling out the new health care system is illegal. The letter sent on December 26, 2013 by certified mail is led by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and backed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, among 10 others.

The letter mentions that the “administrative fix” proposed by President Obama after the millions of insurance cancellations in November is an example of “illegal executive action.” The White House had proposed that state insurance commissioners and insurers should decide whether to allow affected plans to be extended for another year or not. The attorneys general hold the administrative fix to revive canceled insurance is “flatly illegal under federal constitutional and statutory law.”

The letter goes on to explain, “The President’s ‘administration fix’ is unlawful for several reasons. First, it is a violation of the President’s responsibility to ‘take care’ to execute the laws faithfully. Second, it unlawfully creates either a new statutory obligation in violation of the separation of powers or a new rule in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.”

Warning that the President is stepping well beyond the limits placed upon his authority by legal precedents, the attorneys general observed, “[W]e are deeply concerned that this Administration is consistently rewriting new rules and effectively inventing statutory provisions to operationalize a flawed law. And the irony, of course, is that the changes being put forth to fix the disastrous exchanges will ultimately destroy the market and increase health insurance premiums for consumers who played by the rules.”

The group suggested that Sebelius ensure greater privacy protections for consumers and implement a criminal background check requirement for Obamacare navigators. They further concluded, “the only way to fix this problem-ridden law is to enact changes lawfully: through congressional actions. The illegal actions by this Administration must stop.”

Summary:

A letter by 11 Attorneys General to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius brings to light the “administrative fix” proposed by President Obama after the millions of insurance cancellations in November is an example of “illegal executive action.” The West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey along with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, among 10 others hold the administrative fix to revive canceled insurance which is “flatly illegal under federal constitutional and statutory law.”

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Acting on an emergency appeal from a group of Catholic nuns, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor granted a temporary exemption that will protect the group from having to comply with the contraceptive mandate of Obamacare. The group submitted that the nuns would have to pay the draconian fines beginning if they failed to comply with the law from January 1, 2014.

Sotomayor’s order exclusively protects only the group of Catholic nuns who had raised the matter and does not have broader application. The government has until Friday to file a response in the matter.

Currently, the U.S. Supreme Court has number of appeals before it raised by religious organizations and private corporations whose owners’ object paying for contraceptives. Two such cases are scheduled to be heard in March.

Until now, the Obama administration has worked on the policies to grant exemption to churches and other religious groups from providing contraceptive coverage. Religiously affiliated charities have gained a limited exemption in that they need not pay directly for the coverage, but their insurers are required to include it in their policies.

Several emergency appeals were made by religious organizations on Tuesday including the one, The Little Sisters of the Poor, which gained the temporary exemption.

Religious conservatives and the Obama administration are in open war over the contraceptive mandate that compels business owners and employers to pay for contraceptive coverage of employees. Many employers find it offending to their religious beliefs while others believe the choice of whether to use contraceptive or not is personal to each individual and should not enter corporate payout policies.

David Green, the founder of Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby Stores has said that business owners should not have to “choose between violating their beliefs and violating the law.”

Summary:

Colorado-based Catholic nuns gain temporary exemption from the contraceptive mandate of Obamacare. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor order exclusively protects the group of Catholic nuns who had raised the matter. Religious conservatives and the Obama administration are in open war over the mandate that compels business owners and employers to pay for contraceptive coverage of employees.

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2.1 million Americans have enrolled in Obamacare as of Jan 1^st, 2014. While Obamacare didn’t have a running start, but rather a snail pace’s takeoff, it is now getting up to speed. 1.6 million Americans signed up in December, according to the U.S DOH and Human Services, according to Bloomberg. Ultimately, four times as many people signed up in December than in the previous months.

Obama’s polls are looking good, and the fumble from October when Obamacare debuted, is being forgotten as gains in his popularity follow the expansion of the health-care plan, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act. For uninsured Americans and their children, the affordable care act can be the difference between a healthy child and a sick child, or a healthy family, and a sick one. “As many as 7 million people by the end of March will be covered.”

Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Health secretary commented, “The new law is transformational for our entire health-care system and for millions os Americans who finally have health security.” Along with the Obamacare expansion, Medicaid has also expanded, to help the poor to get coverage, or the working poor- a group that many dont clearly understand. Making enough to cover rent, bills and food/other cost of living, but not affording healthcare is actually a problem that millions of Americans face. Hopefully these new health care expansions can cover all Americans.

Summary:

2 Million Americans enroll in subsidized/low cost health insurance. The poorest of Americans may now have low cost health insurance. Medicaid expansion continues.

Image Credit: Newsbusters.org

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America’s desire to care about others is related to the economy, according to The Ticker of Bloomberg View. The American people are more likely to care about others and non-selfish issues more when the economy is riding high rather than riding low. With the slump in the recent economy more Americans are basically looking out for themselves. They are less eager to support programs to help the poor, homeless and even the environment. Americans are divided on whether or not it is the responsibility of the government to provide reasonable and worthy healthcare to everyone. Are Americans becoming jerks or is just survival of the fittest?

The downfall of morality started in 2007. The American belief that the government should help people eat and give people a place to sleep decreased from sixty-nine percent to fifty-nine percent. Those who believed the government should assist the needy decreased from fifty-four percent to forty-three percent. People are against the government falling into debt when it concerns the loss of their money and well-being.

The number of people willing to spend their money to help the environment decreased from sixty percent to forty-three percent. There was a significant increase from seventy-six percent to eighty-three percent in the number of people deciding not to become involved in foreign affairs. Basically people believe that if it doesn’t benefit The United States then why even bother?

Perhaps people becoming more self-interested during a downward economy is just human nature. Being against welfare programs during the time when they are most needed is the human instinct to survive. In a happy economy people are more willing to help others, but if the economy is poor the people need to depend on themselves. If they don’t then who will?

American values are at a low and it’s an ugly realization, but also a truthful one. While many are busy helping the wealthy it is up to others to convince people to care. Perhaps it is easier said than done.

Image Credit: Getty Images

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During a press conference about the problems with the roll-out of the health care website, President Obama shocked the nation by taking personal responsibility for the government’s failure to have the site operational by its self-imposed deadline.

“We fumbled the roll-out of this health care law,” he admitted to a national audience, including all of the major American media outlets.

Dr. Robert Woods, a professor of political science at Ole Washington University, says that the move is unprecedented in the history of American politics.

“This is unbelievable…maybe one of the most dangerous moves in the history of our nation’s government,” he said.

“While there have been instances of politicians apologizing for a problem or mistake, never ever has an American leader taken responsibility for such an error. How could someone get reelected if the nation thinks they are less than perfect?”

Harry Reid, the Senate Majority leader, was at a loss for words following the President’s speech according to those around him.

“I can’t believe he just did that. I…I’m stunned. Did he really just say that he deserves blame for the health care rollout? This is madness!” he reportedly said to a member of his staff.

“At least blame the environment, or God, or something! How is he going to blame himself for this thing? We are [expletive] screwed!”

Owen Starr, a political strategist for the Tea Party, was also shocked by the President’s decision. He says it goes against fundamental principles of American politics.

“Americans don’t want leaders who make mistakes. They much prefer pretending that the people they elect are capable of perfect decision-making and action.”

House Speaker John Boehner, who has opposed the health care program from the very beginning, applauded the President for being honest in a press conference of his own.

“I admire that President Obama went out there and said that the technical problems are his fault, because they are,” he said to a group of reporters and some neighboring squirrels.

“Some people [gestures to himself] actually care about the American people, and thus would never make a mistake that puts their well-being in jeopardy. I know that if myself or any of my other Republican colleagues were to ever make a mistake, we would do everything in our power to make sure no else finds out,” he said.

“Either that, or we’ll blame the President. Both are fine options.”

Note: This article is satirical and does not reflect factual reporting.

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Ted Cruz delivered a marathon filibuster, or whatever you want to call the speech that was intended to be a filibuster, that lasted 21 hours and 19 minutes. In it, he mostly railed against Obamacare, though he touched such timeless topics as actor Ashton Cutcher, the book the Little Engine that Could, a reading from Green Eggs and Ham, a touching personal anecdote about his dilemma on whether to wear boots or shoes, and plenty of other nonsense.

“For lack of better way of describing this, it has been a big waste of time,” said Majority Leader Harry Reid. Not only was it a waste of time, it upset Cruz’s fellow Republicans, or at least the older ones, who are not so gung-ho about turning down the government to stymie Obama’s bill.

Republic Sen. John McCain, specifically, rebuked the younger Republican for his claim that Republicans didn’t do enough to stop the health care law in 2009, and also objected to Cruz’s comparison of those unwilling to vote against Obamacare with Nazi appeasers.

“I resoundly reject that allegation,” said McCain. “It does a great disservice to those Americans who stood up and said what’s happening in Europe cannot stand.”

Nothing shocks a person out of a depression better than some trauma, and the trauma the government is facing comes from Treasury Secretary Jack Lew who warned Wednesday that the nation will soon have spent its emergency borrowing capacity no later than Oct. 17. Certain republicans wished to include an Obamacare defunding clause into legislation that would simultaneously increase the government’s spending capacity, but despite Cruz’s marathon speech, that’s not likely to happen.

Though Cruz said he hopes “that Republicans can listen to the people, and that all 46 Republicans come together. Coming into this debate we clearly were not united, there were significant divisions in the conference. I hope those divisions dissolve, that we come together in party unity,” nevertheless his vision is something of a tea-party based Republican party, and that is unlikely to happen.

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Though it is true that health insurance premiums will cost less under President Obama’s health care plan, it is also true that there will be fewer choices and that insurers will limit the choice of doctors and hospitals available to consumers, according to the NY Times.

Across the country, from California to Maine and the midwest in-between, insurance companies are lowering premiums but are along with it “restricting the number of providers who will treat patients in their new health plans.”

Most people who will look for coverage will be in the low to moderate-income bracket, and these price sensitive consumers will look for affordability primarily. Insurers have created the perfect solution where they can meet the needs of the price sensitive consumers without going bust themselves. They will have smaller networks of doctors, fewer doctors, and fewer hospitals. In many cases as well, the health care providers will also be paid less.

The public is concerned; health care providers are also concerned. Health policy analyst Adam Linker of the North Carolina Justice Center comments that consumers have to be ready for a much smaller group of hospitals and doctors. This policy may “hold down premiums” and it might drive people to “higher quality providers.” Health advocate Mr. Linker is wary as he feels that “there is also a risk [that] under some health plans, consumers can end up with astronomical costs if they go to providers outside the network.”

Insurance companies note that with fewer doctors and hospitals, costs are controllable and the insurers have more control over quality of care provided. They also note that having coverage although in a smaller network of providers is much better than having no coverage at all.

Executive vice president of Blue Shield of California noted that his new health network is half the size of his former one, and the best hospitals were excluded. Daniel Hawkins Jr., a senior vice president of the National Association of Community Health Centers commented, “we serve the very population that will gain coverage- low income, working class uninsured people. But insurers have shown very little interest in including us in their provider networks.”

Dr. Bruce Siegel, president of America’s Essential Hospitals formerly known as the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems said that insurers told his members, “we don’t want you in our network. We are worried about having your patients who are sick and have complicated conditions.”

David Sandor, vice president of the Health Care Service Corporation, offering Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas commented, “in the health insurance exchange, most individuals will be making choices based on costs. Our exchange products will have smaller provider networks that cost less than bigger plans with a larger selection of doctors and hospitals.”

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