“Skinny Repeal” Vote Fails

As expected, Senate Republican leadership brought its “skinny repeal” bill up for a vote last night. This piece of legislation was a slimmed down repeal bill that would have stricken parts of the ACA.

Republican Senator Susan Collins and Senator Lisa Murkowski joined Democratic and Independent Senators in voting against the measure. They were joined by Senator McCain who surprised his party by voting no. Senator McCain later tweeted that the bill, called the Health Care Freedom Act, had fallen short of Republicans’ “promise to repeal and replace Obamacare w/ meaningful reform”.

The failure of this effort is a huge win for patients – an estimated 15 million of whom would have lost health coverage under the measure.

The New York Times has video showing Senator McCain’s vote, and following speeches by Senator McConnell and Senator Schumer.