As dozens of protestors led by Reverend William Barber crowded the halls of the Capitol and labeled the GOP’s healthcare agenda “political murder,” Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled a new version of their Trumpcare plan that one critic mockingly described as “new and improved total garbage.”
“The new Trumpcare bill is awful by design. The tool we have to fight it is simple: public pressure on senators.”
—Ezra Levin, IndivisibleThe newly released plan leaves massive and widely condemned Medicaid cuts intact while adding a new amendment—put forth by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)—that would allow insurers to offer cheap “bare-bones” plans which would wipe out a range of protections for all patients and specifically harm those with preexisting conditions.
Here’s how Buzzfeed‘s Hayes Brown portrayed Cruz’s efforts to “save” his party’s bill:
CNN further noted that keeping the Medicaid cuts in place means “15 million fewer people could insured by the program by 2026” if Trumpcare becomes law.
Aside from the injection of extra funds aimed at appeasing so-called “moderate” Republicans who expressed concern that the bill does not do enough to address the opioid epidemic, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appears to be committed to keeping the most destructive elements of the bill in place, analysts observed.
One lobbyist told Vox‘s Dylan Scott that McConnell seems intent upon “going right rather than center.”
“I knew this bill was unfixable. What I didn’t count on was that it would get worse.”
—Andy Slavitt, former acting administrator of Medicare and Medicaid
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