Senate GOP health bill: Cut Medicaid, end no-coverage fines

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Meanwhile, Senator Johnson insists premiums have risen too high under the Affordable Care Act, and will only continue to rise if a replacement bill does not get passed in the Senate.

Beginning in 2020, the Senate measure would also limit the federal funds states get each year for Medicaid.

To help pay for its expanded coverage to around 20 million more people, Obama's law increased taxes on higher income people, medical industry companies and others, totaling around $1 trillion over a decade. But in the week since, Senate Republicans are quickly coming up against some of the same obstacles that dogged House Republicans - and dealing with new problems of their own creation.

But, even though Republicans now have control of the White House as well as both chambers of Congress, they have struggled to make good on their bold campaign promises to repeal and replace Obamacare.

The law is credited with expanding health insurance to millions of Americans.

Trump happy with Iowa rally: Trump tweeted early Thursday that he had a great night in Iowa.

Much like in the House, where moderate and conservative lawmakers were deeply divided on health care policy leading up to a vote in May, Senate Republicans also have clashing ideological views and priorities. He had privately called the House legislation "mean", according to congressional sources.

The Senate healthcare bill would roll back all taxes imposed under Obamacare, save the "Cadillac tax" on premium insurance plans.

"We have to act", Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. said on the Senate floor, "because Obamacare is a direct attack on the middle class, and American families deserve better than its failing status quo". Its president, Dr. Fernando Stein, says the plan was crafted without input from pediatricians and "would tear down" the progress the nation has made by achieving insurance coverage for 95 percent of children.

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The 44-year-old Cink said he was "a little tired" after coming through a sectional qualifier for the second major of the year. Munoz had three birdies on each side, including back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 in a bogey-free effort.

The legislation has not been scored by the Congressional Budget Office, but an estimated cost of the bill is expected Friday or Monday.

Cruz has been promoting the idea, but he wouldn't comment when I asked him about it this morning, and his office didn't respond to a request for more information.

Premiums subsidies: The Senate bill would also largely maintain Obamacare's premium subsidies structure, but tighten the eligibility criteria starting in 2020. He didn't say on Thursday when he'll bring the measure to the Senate floor.

Republicans hold 52 out of 100 seats in the Senate and the latest bill is created to thread the needle to find an agreement between the conservative wing and more moderate Republicans.

"The Senate Republicans have now put themselves in a real vise", Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of OR told CNN on Thursday.

With the exception of some key changes - notably keeping Obamacare's subsidies to help people pay for individual coverage - the bill is similar to the version of the House measure that passed last month which Trump has since called "mean" despite having a Rose Garden celebration with House Republicans.

Paul says that he and the other senators are "definitely open to negotiation" but that they need to make their opposition clear in order to ensure negotiations happen.

"What I've told leadership very clearly is I'm going to need time, and my constituents are going to need time to evaluate exactly how this is going to affect them, so I personally think that holding a vote on this next week would definitely be rushed", Johnson said on CNN.

Democrats and Republicans, he added, will ultimately have to work together on a longer-term healthcare fix.

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