WASHINGTON — Senator Susan Collins of Maine said on Monday that she would oppose the latest plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, leaving Republican leaders clearly short of the votes they need for passage.
Ms. Collins, a Republican, announced her opposition in a written statement, delivering a significant and possibly fatal blow to the party’s seven-year quest to dismantle the health law.
Senator Collins opposes Graham-Cassidy health care bills https://t.co/nW6MFUvYVg pic.twitter.com/0DSxDJNMPp— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) Sept. 25, 2017
“Health care is a deeply personal, complex issue that affects every single one of us and one-sixth of the American economy. Sweeping reforms to our health care system and to Medicaid can’t be done well in a compressed time frame, especially when the actual bill is a moving target,” Ms. Collins said in the statement.
Document: Read the C.B.O. Report on the Graham-Cassidy Health Care Bill
“Today, we find out that there is now a fourth version of the Graham-Cassidy proposal, which is as deeply flawed as the previous iterations,” she said. “The fact that a new version of this bill was released the very week we are supposed to vote compounds the problem.”
She added: “This is simply not the way that we should be approaching an important and complex issue that must be handled thoughtfully and fairly for all Americans.”
Mr. McCain, who killed the last repeal effort in July with a dramatic middle-of-the-night vote, faulted Republicans for trying to pass sweeping health care legislation without the participation of Democrats or fulsome public deliberations about the undertaking.
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The Republican Senators Who Have Opposed the Many Bills to Repeal Obamacare
Thirteen lawmakers from 12 states have opposed at least one of the Senate’s five major repeal efforts in recent months.
Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, had previously said he would oppose the Graham-Cassidy bill on the grounds that it did not go far enough in repealing the health law. A spokesman for Mr. Paul said on Monday that the senator’s position had not changed.
Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said on Sunday that he had not yet been won over and was seeking changes to the repeal plan. An aide to Mr. Cruz said on Monday that his position remained the same.
Adding urgency to the matter, Republicans have until Sept. 30 to make use of special budget rules under which they can pass a repeal bill with only a simple majority, rather than needing Democratic votes. Even with those expedited procedures, Republicans can afford to lose only two of their 52 members, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the resulting tie.
On Monday, President Trump expressed frustration that Republicans had talked for years about repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act but had failed to deliver now that a Republican was in the White House.
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Three Ways the New Republican Health Bill Differs From Past Repeal Efforts
A comparison of the Cassidy-Graham measure with four other bills that failed in Congress.
Mr. Trump singled out Mr. McCain for his decisive vote in July, and he seemed resigned to defeat this week.
“We’re going to lose two or three votes, and that’s the end of that,” the president said on the “Rick & Bubba Show,” a radio program.
“Enrollment in Medicaid would be substantially lower because of large reductions in federal funding for that program.” the budget office said. In addition, it said, the number of people buying insurance on their own would be lower because of reductions in federal subsidies for such coverage.
Moreover, “funding would shift away from states that expanded eligibility for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act,” the budget office said, “and toward states that did not.” Thirty-one states — including New York, California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania — and the District of Columbia have expanded eligibility.
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