Senate Votes to Open Debate on ACA Repeal

Last night, the U.S. Senate voted to open debate “repeal and replace” legislation – trying again after Senate Republicans failed to pass their Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) last week. With two Republican Senators voting against opening debate, Vice President Pence cast the tiebreaking vote last night.

After opening debate, Senate Republican leadership attempted to pass an updated version of the BCRA. It failed to pass, with 57 senators voting against the measure.

Because of the second failure of the BCRA, Republicans are shifting strategy to focus on “skinny repeal” – or a set of narrower changes to the ACA. This could include repeal of the individual mandate and the requirement for employers of 50 or more provide health insurance for their employees. If Republicans can pass such a bill this week, then they can move to House-Senate Conference Committee to hammer out a new draft.

Additional votes on other repeal and replace proposals and possible amendments are expected this week.

For their part, Senate Democrats are focused on pushing for a more usual, open process – and for a return of the bill to committee, where Senators could start over and move changes forward in a more transparent, regular procedure.