As Health Bill Moves to Senate, Gillibrand Asks Citizens to Voice Opposition

The House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly passed their version of the American Health Care Act, a bill that attempts to "repeal and replace" Obamacare, but the bill is expected to go through significant alterations in the Senate.

Yesterday, the American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed the House of Representatives 217-213. They cite concerns about potential higher costs for older people and those with pre-existing conditions, along with cuts to Medicaid. Susan Collins of ME, says the Senate will not take up the House bill and will instead start from scratch.

A proposed $880 billion cut to Medicaid was in an earlier version of the bill and based on a Congressional Budget Office analysis of the measure. No. 3 Senate GOP leader John Thune of South Dakota is working on a plan to skew the bill's tax subsidies more toward lower-income people.

The tweet was sent from his home on his private golf club in Bedminster.

Mr Trump has called Obamacare a "disaster" and congressional Republicans have long targeted the 2010 law, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, calling it government overreach.

In his meeting on Thursday with Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, Mr Trump said the existing U.S. system was failing. It has given insurance companies the right to deny people health care if they have a so-called "pre-existing" condition.

In his remarks, Obama said he hopes that lawmakers recognize "it actually doesn't take a lot of courage to aid those who are already powerful, already comfortable, already influential".

Many said last-minute amendments further eroded protection for the most vulnerable groups, including the sick and elderly.

But Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, said the passage of the House bill and the possibility of a preexisting conditions clause was a gut punch to the American people.

Insurers have generally considered conditions treated within three months of the start of coverage to be pre-existing, health care industry consultant Robert Laszewski said. Her state is among the 31 that has accepted additional money to expand Medicaid under Obama's law.

In all, the Republican health care bill would cut Medicaid by nearly $840 billion over 10 years, with most of that money going to cut taxes for corporations and wealthy Americans.

OH governor John Kasich questioned what would happen to the mentally ill, drug addicts and people with chronic illnesses under the changes proposed for Medicaid. It's entirely unclear what the Senate parliamentarian - an unelected official who singlehandedly makes major decisions on the reconciliation process - will allow, and what Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans will do if the parliamentarian turns what the House has done into Swiss cheese by stripping various provisions from it.

The male-only makeup of the 13-member group had been a distraction as GOP senators begin writing their bill repealing much of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, one of the party's top priorities.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of ME, a moderate Republican whose vote will be critical in getting a bill to Trump's desk, voiced concerns about potential higher costs for older people and those with pre-existing conditions. "The Senate will complete the job". "So, to the extent - I'm not going to tell Leader McConnell or the White House is not going to tell him how to conduct a panel", Spicer said.

Save My Care says the campaign will include a mix of TV and digital advertising, costing more than a half million dollars.

States could allow insurers to charge higher premiums to those with pre-existing conditions who let their coverage lapse.

Democrats said it would make insurance unaffordable for those who need it most and leave millions more uninsured.

Labrador responded: "That line is so indefensible".

"Well, this is most offensive", Price told conservative radio host Mike Gallagher, as first reported by CNN.