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. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., indicated he was open to discussion and seemed determined to muscle the measure through his chamber next week.
The former president says amending the GOP-written bill "cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation".
-Repeal a tax penalty for people who do not get health insurance, saving them $38 billion over the next decade.
GOP leaders hope to vote on the bill next week and can only afford two defections from the 52 Senate Republicans.
"This is a bill created to strip away health care benefits and protections from Americans who need it most in order to give a tax break to the folks who need it least", Schumer said.
And in a Facebook post, Obama said: "The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill". "Because Obamacare is a direct attack on the middle class, and American families deserve better than its failing status quo".
Like McCain, many other GOP Senators had little to say about the details of the plan, having just seen them a few minutes earlier in their meeting. He also said: "We also agree on the need to strengthen Medicaid".
Elizabeth Warren did not mince words when she took to the Senate floor to decry the brutal Medicaid cuts in the Republican health care repeal bill.
The Senate bill is also much like the House bill in that it would repeal most of the taxes associated with Obamacare (it would bump out the implementation of the so-called "Cadillac Tax" on expensive, employer-sponsored health care plans, from 2025 to 2026).
On the other hand, Sens.
But critics fear the Medicaid cuts, which are deeper than the House bill, will force states to either raise taxes to make up for the funding shortfall or limit enrollment and cut benefits and reimbursement rates for Medicaid providers in order to sustain the program.
Senate Republicans achieved this by using a more conservative formula to determine the cap in federal Medicaid spending year to year.
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Obama was more than skeptical.
"Simply put, if there's a chance you might get sick, get old, or start a family - this bill will do you harm", he wrote.
The legislation will also have to undergo parliamentary scrutiny to ensure that it meets the strict requirements on what can or can't be included in a bill under the budget reconciliation process.
The Senate bill, negotiated in secret, is an effort to dismantle President Barack Obama's health care law.
Though he lauded its passage in a rose garden ceremony, Mr Trump last week privately called the House measure "mean" and called on senators to make their version more "generous".
One report that will inform Senate Republicans as they decide whether to support the bill will be a score from the Congressional Budget Office, expected to come out in the coming days.
But Senate Republicans don't have any such provision, and this could lead the insurance market into a death spiral. The heads of 10 managed care organizations penned a letter to McConnell and Schumer this week saying they were "united in our opposition to the Medicaid policies now being debated by the Senate". They include the American Hospital Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The additional funds would continue through 2020, and be gradually reduced until they are entirely eliminated in 2024.
Ending Obama's expansion has caused major rifts among GOP senators. "Over time the Senate bill would do even more damage than the draconian House bill".
A key issue for centrists, especially the 20 GOP senators from states that expanded Medicaid, is how to phase out the program for low-income Americans.
Senate Republicans unveiled their long-awaited health care overhaul proposal on Thursday.
A disappointing CBO score for the Senate bill would only compound the pressure facing wary Republicans such as Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Rob Portman of Ohio, Susan Collins of ME and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
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