The new AHCA is a lot like the old AHCA.

After weeks of secret gestation in back rooms, the Senate released a discussion draft of the chamber’s version of the American Health Care Act. Like the version passed through the House to cheers in May, it is likely to make health care less affordable for low-income, sick, and near-elderly people; it makes Obamacare tax credits for exchange coverage less generous; it restricts and slashes Medicaid funding deeply over the next decade; and it attempts to smooth euphemistically-named “market disruptions” from all those reforms by injecting billions into state funds and reinsurance. </s> Mitch McConnell released the Senate's Healthcare Bill Thursday. Dubbed the "Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017," the 142-page proposal includes massive cuts to Medicaid, cuts to hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes for the wealthy and defunding of Planned Parenthood for at least one year. The Congressional Budget Office has not had a chance to score the Senate's bill yet. Under the House bill, the CBO found found that 23 million Americans would lose their healthcare coverage by 2026. </s> The first draft of the Senate Republican healthcare bill is finally here.

Called the “Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017,” the 142-page bill at first glance appears not too different from its House of Representatives counterpart, the American Health Care Act. It slashes billions from Medicaid in order to cover repeals of the tax increases instituted by the Affordable Care Act, and undoes core components of Obamacare, such as the individual mandate for consumers to purchase health insurance.

More details of what’s in the Better Care act will be coming throughout the day. Most members of Congress and policy experts — shut out of the covert process by which the bill was crafted over the past few weeks — will be learning the details of it at the same time as the public.

You can read the full text of the draft bill below: </s> The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 is here, and investors aren’t remotely concerned.

Senate Republicans unveiled their bid to overhaul the Affordable Care Act on Thursday morning, amid protests outside GOP Senate offices.

It is safe to say the protesters weren’t representing owners of health-care stocks. The Health Care Select... </s> On May 4, 2017, Republicans in Congress moved a huge step closer to their wish to repeal the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “Obamacare.” The body voted 217 to 213 to adopt the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA).

As the five-minute voting period ended, members could be heard singing, “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye.”

Watch the debate and the vote here, via C-Span.

Next up: The Senate will debate and vote on the latest version of the AHCA. </s> Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell walks to a meeting in the U.S. Capitol on July 25, 2017 in Washington. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to hold a key procedural vote later today on U.S. President Donald Trump's effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Win McNamee / Getty Images </s> WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) – Senators will be back on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to continue debate on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

Tuesday night, by a vote of 43-57 the Senate Republican plan to repeal and replace the health care law failed on a procedural vote.

The Senate adjourned but will return at 9:30 a.m. to resume debate and consideration of amendments to a Republican health care bill. The next series of votes is expected at 11:30 a.m.

The vote on that bill took place just hours after they decided, by the narrowest margin possible, to proceed with debates on health care.

“We’re now one step closer to liberating our citizens from this Obamacare nightmare,” said President Donald Trump during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

Wednesday’s debate will focus on the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the GOP plan that passed the House of Representatives in May.

Numerous amendments will now be offered that will dramatically change the nature of the House-passed legislation. Some amendments include a proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare, while another could simply repeal the 2010 health care law in its entirety and provide Congress with two years to figure out a replacement health care plan.

Nine Republicans came out against Tuesday night’s amendment in the first of what is expected to be many versions of the bill headed to the Senate floor this week.

“Anyone who thinks this is over is sadly mistaken, there are many many Republicans who don’t like this bill who don’t want to vote for it, they’re under enormous pressure to vote for it,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY.

The House plan, which was rejected by the Senate, is the one that, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, would’ve resulted in 22 million fewer people with health care coverage by 2026. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate has voted to move ahead on health care legislation aimed at dismantling the Obama health law.

The vote was 51-50 on Tuesday, a victory for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump. Last week, McConnell was forced to postpone the vote, lacking the support of conservatives and moderates.

In a dramatic turn, Sen. John McCain returned from Arizona where he is battling brain cancer to cast a crucial vote on proceeding on health care.

The vote sets up days of debate and votes on repealing and replacing Barack Obama’s health care law. Whatever the Senate approves still requires a vote in the House.

A short time later, President Donald Trump praised the Senate for moving forward on health care repeal. He says a vote Tuesday to take up the Republican health care bill “was a big step.”

Trump adds that he wants “to congratulate the American people” because better health care is on the way.

Shouting “Kill the bill” and “shame,” the demonstrators stood in the visitors’ gallery and chanted. They were led out of the chamber by police but could still be heard.

The Senate chamber was packed, with lawmakers standing to cast their votes.

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 Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter </s> The US House of Representatives has taken the first step toward demolishing President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, known as Obamacare.Republicans passed a budget measure to introduce a bill - which Democrats cannot block - to roll back the law.But members of both parties in Congress are concerned about a lack of replacement for Obamacare.The political showdown raises a big question mark over medical coverage for more than 20 million Americans.The measure passed in the House nearly on a party-line vote, 227-198, delivering a blow to President Obama's legacy a week before he leaves office.It instructs four committees on Capitol Hill to draft repeal legislation by 27 January.The Senate passed the resolution by 51-48 on Thursday.Can Obamacare be repealed?US patients await Obamacare's fate"By taking the first step toward repealing Obamacare, we are closer to giving Americans relief from the problems this law has caused," House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement following the vote."This resolution gives us the tools we need for a step-by-step approach to fix these problems and put Americans back in control of their health care."Obamacare has provided healthcare subsidies and medical coverage for millions who are not covered through work.It has banned insurers from refusing coverage to people who are already ill, and curbed medical charges to the sick and elderly.But the law has been rocked by rising premiums, large fees and national insurers exiting the marketplaces.Egged on by Donald Trump, Republicans have vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act but conservatives have not yet agreed on a new plan. President-elect Donald J. Trump demanded on Tuesday that Congress immediately repeal the Affordable Care Act and pass another health law quickly. His remarks put Republicans in the nearly impossible position of having only weeks to replace a health law that took nearly two years to pass. “We have to get to business,” Mr. Trump told The New York Times in a telephone interview. “Obamacare has been a catastrophic event.” U.S. USA America "united States" Law Congress Republican Promise Obamacare Insurance "Health Insurance" poverty Poor Rich Wealth Lies Truth Plan "Health Insurance Plan" "American Dream" States Speech Meeting Experiment Lawyer health healthy hospital "travel insurance" doctor emergency savings salary family "health savings account" budget debt 2017 2018 future elite agenda news media entertainment benefit account sick sickness "private healthcare" surgery "elite nwo agenda" cancer charityMr. Trump appeared to be unclear both about the timing of already scheduled votes in Congress and about the difficulty of his demand — a repeal vote “probably some time next week” and a replacement “very quickly or simultaneously, very shortly thereafter.” As their first major act of the new Congress, Republicans rushed approval of a budget resolution this week that sets up a framework for repealing Obamacare, but what exactly to replace it with is still a puzzle Republicans are piecing together.House Speaker Paul Ryan, a college freshman who won't shut up about how you really should read more Ayn Rand books, is in a bit of a pickle right now. On the one hand, he and his fellow Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House, setting the stage for the Affordable Care Act repeal that they've promised to the point of fetishization for the last six-plus years. On the other hand, after six-plus years, they still have no idea what the hell they're going to do instead! (Hope you got all your serious illness and major injuries out of the way in 2016, friend.) As Republicans try to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they should be reminded every day that 36,000— Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), in a tweet, Jan. 12, 2017With the fate of the Affordable Care Act hanging in the balance, the rhetorical warfare is only going to get worse. Earlier this week, we looked at an exaggerated GOP claim about Obamacare premiums.
The U.S. Senate releases its version of the American Health Care Act of 2017.