The House of Representatives vote on the American Health Care Act (AHCA) has been postponed, at least until tomorrow and possibly until Monday. The AHCA is the GOP health care reform/budget reconciliation bill.
The Republican leaders lack the 215 votes needed to pass the bill. Many members of the right-wing Freedom Caucus have said they will vote No, and some moderate Republicans are also saying they will vote against the AHCA. All Democrats are expected to vote against it.
A meeting is scheduled for later today for the entire Republican House delegation. It’s not known yet whether President Trump also will attend that meeting.
CBO revised score of the revised bill
There were recent revisions to the original (March 6th) AHCA, to try to get more conservative Republicans to vote for it. (These are mostly the “Managers’ Amendments.”)
Since the bill was revised, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its revised estimates of the cost and coverage effects of the amended bill. CBO estimates the current version of the bill would cost $187 billion more than the March 6th bill and still result in 52 million Americans uninsured by 2026.
- Revised cost estimate: the revised bill would reduce the federal deficit by $150 billion over 10 years.
- Original cost estimate: the original bill would reduce the federal deficit by $337 billion over 10 years.
We will keep you apprised of new developments.