Senate Republicans late Thursday night revealed the legislative text of a “skinny” bill that would make some tweaks to Obamacare just hours before they are expected to vote on the legislation.
The watered-down version of an Obamacare repeal bill would undo the individual mandate penalties and suspend employer mandate penalties until 2025, cut off federal family planning funds from Planned Parenthood for a year while boosting funding for community health centers, and increase limits on how much people could contribute to health savings accounts.
Obamacare’s tax on medical devices, a portion of the law that both parties have taken issue with, would be suspended for three years.
A Congressional Budget Office report that evaluated the repeal of the individual mandate, which obligates people to buy insurance or pay a fine, projected that by 2018, 16 million more people would be uninsured and unsubsidized premiums for people in the exchange would rise by 20 percent.
Republicans are anticipating using this bill as a vehicle to send text to conference so that they can work out additional details with the House, before they send the text to President Trump. Several holdouts wanted assurance from congressional leaders that the bill as written would never become law.
The bill will require at least 50 votes to pass, assuming a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence. Republicans hold a 52-seat majority in the Senate, and some lawmakers have not yet said where they stand on the bill.
Healthcare Freedom Act by Anonymous BUfPa4y5c on Scribd
