Benefits Buzz

Will the ACA Get Repealed This Week?

Posted on July 24th, 2017

Senate Republicans may vote as early as Tuesday on a bill that would repeal and replace key parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but there are still a couple of unknowns. 
 
The first unknown is what bill will actually be voted on. Is it the American Health Care Act (AHCA) that was passed by the House in May? Is it the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) which was introduced in the Senate in late June? And if it is the BCRA, which version of the bill since it has seen at least two revisions after being introduced? There has even been some talk on voting to repeal parts of the ACA without any replacement plan. If this occurred, it would likely come with a two-year delay to give Congress some time to pass replacement legislation. 
 
The second unknown is whether a bill can even pass in the Senate. Republicans have been going at a repeal and replacement plan on their own, and it is clear there are divisions within the Republican party on how to proceed. The main issues are what to do (or not do) with Medicaid and the individual health insurance market.
 
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will decide what bill will be voted on and exactly when this will occur. There is a chance an unsuccessful vote will occur, meaning there aren’t enough votes to pass a bill. If a vote is held, Senator John McCain won’t be present due to a recent brain cancer diagnosis. However, in the event of an unsuccessful vote, the Senate could retake up the bill upon McCain’s return.
 
There are still a lot of questions about what’s next for health care and the ACA, but it seems like we’re getting much closer to knowing whether key parts of the ACA will stay or go. 
 

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