Zero Hedge
July 27, 2017
Right on schedule, President Donald Trump is out with his latest tweet urging Republicans to pass health-care reform: “Come on Republican Senators, you can do it on Healthcare. After 7 years, this is your chance to shine! Don’t let the American people down!”
Come on Republican Senators, you can do it on Healthcare. After 7 years, this is your chance to shine! Don’t let the American people down!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2017
* * *
Like they say, third time’s the charm.
President Donald Trump may have spoken too soon when he praised Senate Republicans as “patriots” who would swiftly put an end to the “tyranny” of Obamacare earlier this week after the chamber passed a crucial motion to proceed with a plan to repeal the controversial health-care law.
But that plan, as well as the Senate’s repeal-and-replace alternative, have now been rejected. So, with few options remaining, the Senate Republican leadership now believes its best chance of passing health-care reform by the end of the week lies with a so-called “skinny repeal” bill that was drafted last week.
Pundits seem to agree. Goldman’s Alec Phillips believes there’s a “somewhat greater probability” of skinny repeal passing, though he still thinks the most likely scenario would be a Republican surrender: “We believe the status quo is more likely to be maintained,” he said in a research note.
The skinny repeal bill would eliminate three of Obamacare’s most controversial features: The individual and employee mandates, and the tax on medical devices. But its biggest advantage over the other two Republican options was unwittingly revealed by Democrats, who asked the CBO to score the bill.
Turns out, a “skinny” Obamacare repeal would result in only 16 million people losing their insurance, compared with 22 million for the second draft of the…