How the Health Care Vote Fell Apart, Step by Step

The New York Times ^ | MARCH 24, 2017 | KATIE ROGERS

[mdittmar]

WASHINGTON — After several days of dramatic back and forth between President Trump and Republicans in Congress, House Republicans pulled a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, delivering the president a staggering defeat in his first high-profile legislative effort.

That’s quite a turn of events. Let’s break them down.

What happened?

Republican leaders shelved the legislation on Friday afternoon — shortly before an expected vote — after House members spent days pushing for concessions on the replacement proposal, called the American Health Care Act. A day before, after the vote was postponed, Mr. Trump demanded that a vote be held on Friday. But the bill was pulled as it looked as though it would fall shy of the 215 votes needed to pass the House.

Who decided to pull the bill? Mr. Trump and the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, both said it was their decision.

“Ryan says that he advised Trump to pull the bill,” Julie Hirschfeld Davis, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, wrote in a live analysis. “Interesting, because Trump told us that he had directed Ryan to yank it. A lot of blame-shifting going on.”

How did the vote get derailed?

The proposal would have replaced the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, with a system of age-based tax credits to purchase insurance coverage, and its provisions brought a divide between ultraconservative and moderate House Republicans into relief.

This is the gist: The most conservative members of the House didn’t think that the American Health Care Act would go far enough to eradicate Obamacare

[RushingWater]

it was also several of the GOP moderates and liberal republicans who were claiming this went to far in undoing parts of O’care for their liking.

What were those specific things?

[sargon]

But 109 FReepers will declare victory when the rest of the world knows it’s over.

Just like "the rest of the world knew it was over" for Trump on the morning of Tuesday, November 8, 2016?

Rumors of Donald Trump's political demise have been greatly exaggerated—repeatedly—for about two years straight now.

This wishful thinking has been propagated primarily by the Democrats and Media (but I repeat myself); but there is also a contingent of the bitter—whose preferred candidate didn't win—who can barely conceal their glee whenever there is a setback for the President.

So the second-guessing will continue as the armchair quarterbacks hold forth—from their incredibly well-informed vantage points—on this lengthy 3D chess match...

[Sequoyah101]

The uniparty rinos have been paid off by the insurance companies and could not change the bill that the inusurance companies wrote.

Pure corruption. That is why a bill could not be passed by the conservatives.

[Alberta's Child]

My Congressman was one of the GOP moderates who wasn't going to vote for it. He never explained why, but it wasn't hard to figure that out:

Only 16% of his constituents supported the Ryan bill.

[af_vet_1981]

The uniparty rinos have been paid off by the insurance companies and could not change the bill that the inusurance companies wrote.

The logical next step is some form of Single Payer to get the Democrats to vote for it. Great. Thanks freedom caucus.

[Abby4116]

Andy Harris and he is one of the good guys! He is also a doctor.

[fortheDeclaration]

It isn’t, Trump didn’t get elected on lowering taxes.

[fortheDeclaration]

Obamacare is going to collapse very soon, the premiums are going to raise considerably.

The GOP can start taking the Bill apart in small bites, like the mandates and taxes on medical equipment.

[taterjay]

No Obamacare for me. I chose freedom and a different direction when foolishness passed.