I knew the Ryan bill was doomed as soon as they began selling it as part of a three-phase strategy. It failed because nobody believed they could deliver on all phases, and Phase 1 simply didn’t offer any relief from huge increases in insurance premiums.
It’s kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t scenario.
I think 3 phases might have actually worked with the energy and pressure of Donald Trump behind it. However, people are still thinking about the notorious fickleness of Congress and are going “sure, sure, sure” in irony.
Something is going to have to populate all those phases, at the least, even if trimming bills need to be passed later to adjust things.