BCRA Appears Mostly Dead

Senate Republicans had hoped to vote on their repeal and replace bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, today or tomorrow – but as of late yesterday, two additional Republican Senators pulled their support for the bill. Now, there are not enough votes to pass the measure.

The path forward is now somewhat uncertain, although the White House is continuing to call for repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

While there is some talk among Congressional leadership about the potential of passing a straight repeal bill, there is also acknowledgement that this would throw the insurance markets into chaos and suddenly leave millions of people uninsured. Most analysts believe at this point that Republicans are unlikely to get the votes to pass such a bill.