Leaks have revealed some of the details of the healthcare bill that the Senate Republicans have been working on behind closed doors for some time. They wanted to keep as much of it a secret as they could, but that does not appear to be an option any more.
It seems that the Senate Republicans decided to keep the bill a secret because they feared that details coming out would give Democrats ammunition to use to attack the bill with. That could lead to the bill being pulled before it even gets a chance if the public pressure built up enough. This has been the life cycle of some controversial bills in the past, and Republicans are well aware of this particular trend. As such, they did pretty well to keep it hushed to this point.
It seems that the details of the bill include parts which would lead to states reducing their Medicare spending by 2025 as the spending rates would be tied to an even lower growth forecast than the one that the House used. This has prompted some to say that this healthcare bill is even harsher than the one that the House put forward. That is not usually the way that things work as the House is seen as more conservative and the Republicans command a larger majority in the House as well.
It is also said of this bill that if it becomes law that people will pay more for their healthcare and that those with disabilities and some children will also lose their coverage as a result of this. It has a lot of people worried to say the least.
These are just the details that have leaked, and there could in fact be changes to what is actually produced by the Senate at the end of the day. It may turn out to not be as bad as reported, or it may turn out that the Republicans in the Senate decide to make changes once again to the bill. That much is not yet clear.
Even though many reported on the leaked details suggest that this bill is even more conservative than what was passed by the House, it is interesting to see who is not yet coming out in favor of it. To this point it has been more conservative Republicans in the Senate who have voiced their concern about the bill. At this very moment at least four of them say that they are not yet ready to vote for this bill in its current form. They may change their minds on this at a later date, but there is some concern from at least some of the Senate about this bill.
It is expected that Democrats will put up a united front against this bill which has been dubbed “Trumpcare” and if that holds true, then only 3 Republicans voting against it would put an end to this bill. A lose of two Republican votes would mean that Mike Pence would have to step in with his tie-breaking vote in favor of the bill. That would be the second time that the Vice-President would have stepped in to cast a tie-breaking vote in this still young Administration.
The total number of votes for this bill as well as any more transformations that it has yet to go through will be interesting to watch. Let alone the fact that we do not yet know how much of these leaks if any are true. They seem to come from credible sources, but we cannot yet be sure about what the bill really contains within it.