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Senate wary on ‘Obamacare’ repeal, bumpy path ahead

He said House Republicans “voted to take away health care from millions, strip Medicaid funding and wipe out pre-existing conditions”.

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Step three happens in 2018 – go after every Democrat running for the House or Senate for “obstructing Republican improvements and progress” on healthcare.

“It’s close to near impossible”, said Orrin Hatch, who as finance committee chairman will play a key role in drafting a Senate bill.

It was simple chit-chat, pleasantries spoken from one world leader to another when Trump told Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday night that “you have better healthcare than we do”.

They’re putting pressure on senators to ensure a final bill revamping President Barack Obama’s health-care law doesn’t cost millions of Americans the insurance coverage they gained under it.

The bill’s supporters say younger and healthier people will pay less for monthly premiums and be able to buy limited policies that meet their needs. “There wasn’t the reality of playing with a live ball”.

Rosie Bonger of Englewood, Colo., holds up a placard during a protest outside the state office of U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., over the health care bill passed by the U.S. House Thursday, May 4, 2017.

Among the bill’s highlights, per Vox: A repeal of the individual mandate (the tax on those who don’t purchase insurance); phasing out of Medicaid expansion along with additional cuts; individual healthcare tax credits based on age, not income; and limited coverage for pre-existing conditions on the individual market.

Ms Pelosi said that the Republicans were at the White House “having a beer party to celebrate one of the biggest transfers of wealth from working families to the richest people in our country”.

A big milestone yesterday as the House passes its Obamacare replacement, the American Health Care Act.

Twitter is overflowing with lists of pre-existing conditions, patient testimonials and posts with the #iamapreexistingcondition hashtag.

The essential health benefit waivers could give states more flexibility to offer a wider range of plans on the Obamacare exchanges, or whatever eventually replaces them, and could lower premiums by allowing insurance providers to offer plans current deemed “sub-par”.

But when what you want most is to pass a bill, letting all those pesky details get in the way can just slow things down. They’re just returning to the rates they had before the ACA.

The measure would also water down the subsidies that help consumers afford health insurance, and it would cut Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor and disabled, including ending extra federal payments to 31 states that expanded Medicaid to cover more people.

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In his meeting on Thursday with Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, Mr Trump said the existing United States system was failing.

The House is voting on the Republican health care bill on Thursday