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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 28 July 2017
Republicans strain for modest ‘skinny’ redo of ‘Obamacare’

By ERICA WERNER pared for a bizarre Capitol ish the current law. Talks
ALAN FRAM Hill ritual, a “vote-a-rama” with the House would fol-
Associated Press on amendments that low, with the aim of craft-
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bat- promised to last into the ing a compromise repeal-
tered by repeated fail- wee hours of Friday morn- and-replace bill that could
ures to repeal or replace ing. pass both chambers some-
“Obamacare,” Senate The “skinny repeal” they time in the fall.
GOP leaders retreated to a were considering was be- Whether Republicans can
narrow approach Thursday ing touted as a way for make it that far looks iffy
that would undo just a few Republicans to get some- at best. But Trump tweeted
of the most unpopular ele- thing, anything, out of the his encouragement, albeit
ments of Barack Obama’s Senate after frittering away with an ominous touch:
law. the first six months of Don- “Come on Republican
Democrats vowed oppo- ald Trump’s presidency try- Senators, you can do it on
sition as the Senate pre- ing unsuccessfully to abol- Healthcare. After 7 years,

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. is
surrounded by reporters as he
arrives at the Senate chamber
on Capitol Hill in Washington,
Thursday, July 27, 2017, as
the Republican majority in
Congress remains stymied
by their inability to fulfill their
political promise to repeal
and replace “Obamacare.”
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

this is your chance to shine!
Don’t let the American
people down!”
The “skinny bill” strategy
emerged after Republi-
cans barely succeeded
earlier this week in opening
debate on health legisla-
tion in the narrowly divided
Senate, winning the proce-
dural vote to do so thanks
only to Vice President Mike
Pence breaking a 50-50 tie.
Hours of debate followed,
as well as a few amend-
ment votes that starkly re-
vealed Republican divides.
On Tuesday, on a 57-43
vote with nine GOP defec-
tions, the Senate rejected
a wide-ranging proposal
by Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell to erase and
replace much of the Af-
fordable Care Act.
Then on Wednesday, a
straightforward repeal
measure failed 55-45 with
seven Republicans joining
Democrats in voting “no,”
even though nearly identi-
cal legislation had passed
Congress two years earlier.
That left Republican sena-
tors hunting for other op-
tions, and the skinny repeal
rose to the top.
The measure has not been
finalized, but senators
have said it could elimi-
nate Obamacare’s two
mandates — for individuals
to carry insurance and for
employers to offer it.q