Republicans in the House of Representatives have a 44 delegate advantage over the Democrats in 2017. For over 7 years, the Republicans have talked about repealing Obamacare (ACA) and with the election of President Trump, finally they are in a position to make that happen.
Three weeks ago, Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House introduced a new healthcare bill entitled “The American Health Care Act,” which would replace and improve Obamacare. Only 17% of Americans supported the bill and the House Republicans were extremely divided with their support. The Democrats were 100% against the bill, but the President and White House Secretary Sean Spitzer said they would get the votes needed to pass the House.
The passage of this healthcare bill was extremely significant to President Trump and Paul Ryan, because this was the first major challenge for the Republicans in the House, and it was an indication everyone was on the same page. With a 44 delegate advantage, the Republicans in the House would prove that they were prepared to govern, and they were united.
Trump is diametrically opposed to everything that President Obama believes and stands for. The AHCA was a disastrous bill, where 14 million Americans would lose their healthcare insurance next year, and 24 million by 2026. After days of negotiations, the last version of the bill had cuts in hospitalization, doctor visits, maternity, mental health, lab test, prescriptions, and emergency visits.
But something is happening in America, and it starts with democracy, and ends with truth. There were hundreds of town hall meetings, millions of Americans called their representative and said, “Keep Obamacare alive and let it live.”
On Thursday, March 23, 2017, the AHCA was scheduled to be voted on in the House, but Speaker Ryan and the Republicans did not have the votes. The president and his team had meetings and negotiations with the different caucuses, and still there were not enough positive votes.
On Friday, it was assumed that there were not enough supporters, so there was never a vote on the floor. President Trump and Speaker Ryan killed the bill, and the ACA is still the law of the land.
President Trump is in the middle of a non-stop Obama nightmare. Trump has never treated President Obama with respect, and now every evening he is forced to think, “What would Obama do.”
American s now believes that healthcare is a fundamental right, and not a privilege. The defeat of the AHCA was a victory for all Americans, and not just the Democrats.
There are now over 20 million Americans that have healthcare insurance as a result of the ACA. President Obama says, “The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is law only because millions of Americans mobilized and organized and decided that this fight was about more than healthcare – it was about the character of our country.”
There are still many problems within the administration of ACA, but it is a crucial step in the right direction. There are many benefits in the system that we cannot as a society afford to lose. But as a great country, we still must answer the question, “How do we provide quality healthcare in the most cost effective way possible?”
It makes no sense for the Republicans and Democrats to stand on the side and let the ACA implode. Every night President Trump can hear President Obama calling out in the spirit of reconciliation and advice. “Donald you must follow my lead and work with, and respect the Democrats.”
The ACA is working and when something is working, it is easier to fix the broken parts. The ACA needs to be fixed and improved, and both parties working together can make that happen.
