In summary
While GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan is insisting that the fight to repeal Obamacare is not over, Democratic leaders in California continue celebrating on social media over the House’s failure to secure enough votes to pass the Republicans’ replacement.
Just days after House Speaker Paul Ryan admitted defeat in repealing the Affordable Care Act, he told party faithful that the effort is not over.
Late last week, House Republican leaders pulled the repeal bill because of a lack of votes. At that time Ryan said, “We’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.” But today, the Wisconsin Republican acknowledged his replacement legislation—dubbed Trumpcare or Ryancare, but officially called the American Health Care Act—was “flawed.” He also told donors the GOP intends to keep working on healthcare.
The Washington Post obtained a recording of the call and reported that Ryan said, “We’re not going to just all of a sudden abandon health care and move on to the rest. We are going to move on with rest of our agenda, keep that on track, while we work the health-care problem. . . . It’s just that valuable, that important.”
President Trump has publicly blamed Democrats for failure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and said his administration would try again within a year when “Obamacare explodes.” The health care plan enacted seven years ago requires that every American have health insurance, and offers subsidies for low-income families to make insurance more affordable. Critics of the program argue that it is not sustainable, is expensive, and does not provide enough options for consumers.
Democratic leaders in California, a state that embraced Obamacare, have been celebrating on social media all weekend long. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León tweeted: “Millions of Californians will keep their healthcare and our state budget just avoided a huge hit.”
For today we can all breathe a sigh of relief. The #ACA endures. But for tomorrow, we must gird ourselves for the battles yet to come.
— Jerry Brown (@JerryBrownGov) March 24, 2017
“Americans saw on Day One that ripping care away from 24 million people in order to finance massive tax giveaways for people like Donald Trump was morally bankrupt and dangerous,” said Laphonza Butler, president of Service Employees International Union in California. “Day by day, the GOP made it clear that their so-called ‘health’ plan had nothing to do with health, as maternity services, children’s check-ups, and protections for people with pre-existing conditions were stripped from their proposal.”