Senate poised to repeal major portions of Obamacare
WASHINGTON — The Senate began consideration Wednesday of a bill that would repeal major portions of Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood in a vote that is designed to force a veto from President Obama heading into the 2016 election.
Democrats will be unable to filibuster the bill, which requires only a simple 51-vote majority under a budget procedure known as reconciliation. There are 54 Republican senators, although it's possible that at least two moderates — Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois — may vote against the bill because of the provision to strip funding from Planned Parenthood for a year.
The House passed the bill in October but will likely have to approve it a second time if the Senate passes an amended version this week as expected. Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the vote will happen Thursday night.
Republicans condemn the five-year-old Affordable Care Act — better known as Obamacare — for increasing health insurance premiums, raising the cost of deductibles that patients must pay, and reducing their choice of doctors.
Democrats praise the law for providing medical coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, stopping insurance companies from denying coverage to Americans with pre-existing health problems, and allowing young people to stay on their parents' insurance until the age of 26.
"This week, we finally have a chance to vote to end Obamacare’s cycle of broken promises and failures with just 51 votes," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who acknowledged to reporters that he is not expecting Obama to sign the bill. "It’s a bill that will take the first steps necessary to build a bridge away from Obamacare...The president can’t be shielded from the weighty decision he’ll finally have to make when this measure lands on his desk."
Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Republicans are "obsessed" with repealing Obamacare. Senate Republicans have unsuccessfully tried to pass an Obamacare repeal 16 times, Reid said. House Republicans have voted to repeal all or part of the law about 50 times.
"Enough of this haranguing about Obamacare," said Reid, who predicted that Senate Democrats will sustain a presidential veto of the bill. "One need only go home and people come up and say: 'Obamacare is so good. My daughter who could never get health insurance because she is a diabetic can now get it.' That’s because of the Affordable Care Act."
The budget bill passed by the House would gut key sections of the law, including the mandate for individuals to buy health insurance and for employers with more than 50 workers to provide it. Senate Republicans are considering going several steps further by repealing Obamacare's expanded Medicaid coverage for low-income patients and eliminating federal subsidies for people buying insurance in the marketplace.
The White House issued a statement Wednesday saying that Obama will veto the bill if it reaches his desk.
"Repealing key elements of the Affordable Care Act would result in millions of individuals remaining uninsured or losing the insurance they have today," the statement said. "An estimated 17.6 million Americans gained coverage...The (bill) would roll back coverage gains and cost millions of hard-working middle-class families the security of affordable health coverage they deserve."
The bill also would strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood, which has been under attack by conservatives since anti-abortion activists released undercover videos earlier this year allegedly showing group officials talking about selling tissue from aborted fetuses. Planned Parenthood has denied making any profit from the sale of fetal tissue. The group announced in October that it would immediately stop taking reimbursement for supplying the tissue for medical research.
Planned Parenthood receives about $500 million a year from the federal government to provide cancer screenings, medical checkups and birth control services. It is barred by federal law from using taxpayer money to pay for abortions, except in the case of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger.
The vote on the group's funding comes in the wake of a shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado last week in which three people were killed, including a police officer.
Democratic Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Ron Wyden of Oregon offered an amendment Wednesday that would continue to fund Planned Parenthood services while providing additional money to help clinics increase safety measures for their patients and staff.
"When a woman seeks health care, constitutionally protected health care, she shouldn't have to feel threatened in any way," Murray said.