Update on Obamacare
Since the election, repealing and replacing Obamacare (also known as the Affordable Care Act/ACA) have been the buzzwords around Capitol Hill. Congressional and Senatorial leaders ended their holiday vacations and came back to Washington, DC, on January 4, 2017 with an aggressive approach to change the legislation. The GOP, having a majority over both Congress and the Senate, have been itching to repeal the ACA since its conception. After hours of votes on Thursday, January 12, Senate Republicans approved a budget resolution to formerly begin the arduous process to repeal the Affordable Care Act without, at that time, an idea or plan to replace it. This could leave millions of Americans without health insurance.
In the Senate, the partisan vote for a budget resolution passed with 51 – 48 votes. The resolution specifically directs the appropriate committees to draft legislation that will repeal Obamacare by January 27th (a week after President-elect Trump takes office). The Senate will need at least 60 votes to replace Obamacare.
On Friday, January 13th, in an effort to repeal Obamacare on the other side of the Capitol, the House passed a fiscal budget for 2017 with 227 – 198 votes. This strategic maneuver demonstrates skillful reconciliation procedures to “protect” an Obamacare repeal from officials in the Senate who could filibuster or try to block the repeal from happening (Senate filibusters). The timing on these legislative actions are important and aligned with President-elect Donald Trump’s plea to Republicans to pass the budget in order to target the health law.
The Hydrocephalus Association is committed to advocating for and keeping you updated on any changes to healthcare policy that will impact the hydrocephalus community. As more information comes out of meetings on Capitol Hill and from the President-elect’s team on a plan to replace Obamacare, we will keep you updated.
If you are affected by the changes to the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare either in a positive or negative way, we would like to hear from you. Please contact us at advocacy@hydroassoc.org to share your story.
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