WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans, who for seven years have promised a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, took a major step on Thursday toward that goal, unveiling a bill to make deep cuts in Medicaid and end the law’s mandate that most Americans have health insurance.

The 142-page bill would create a new system of federal tax credits to help people buy health insurance, while offering states the ability to drop many of the benefits required by the Affordable Care Act, like maternity care, emergency services and mental health treatment.

But the measure landed in rough seas ahead of a vote that Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, wants next week. Four conservative senators, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, announced that they would oppose it without changes — more than enough to bring it down.

“It does not appear this draft as written will accomplish the most important promise that we made to Americans: to repeal Obamacare and lower their health care costs,” the four wrote in a joint statement.</s>The 142-page draft is part of campaign promises by many Republic lawmakers to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Sen. Lamar Alexander said he sees benefits for Tennesseans in the current form of the bill.

“I’m going to continue to review this draft,” said Alexander, R-Tenn. “I’m going to see what it costs when the Congressional Budget Office gives its report. Then, I’m going to stay focused on it next week as the bill goes to the Senate floor – where it will be subject to virtually unlimited amendments – and my focus will be on how it affects Tennesseans.”

Sen. Bob Corker echoed Alexander’s intent to focus on the impact the bill could have on Tennesseans.

“Under the current health care system, families in Tennessee and across our country face rising costs and have limited choices,” said Corker, R-Tenn. “Congress has a responsibility to resolve these issues and stabilize the individual insurance market, and over the next several days, I will take time to fully review the legislative text and seek input from a wide range of stakeholders across our state. I will make a final decision based on whether this legislation, on the whole, is better than what is in place today.”

The Democratic National Committee listed Thursday ways the health care bill could negatively affect Tennesseans.

“Under the ACA, 266,000 Tennesseans gained health insurance and the Tennessee uninsured rate dropped by more than a quarter,” said Vedant Patel, DNC spokesperson.

“Despite poll after poll showing Americans across the country overwhelmingly oppose [President Donald] Trump and Republicans’ efforts to take their health care away, Republicans are turning their back on Tennesseans.”

According to the DNC, the bill will hurt people with pre-existing conditions by allowing states to opt out of providing essential health benefits, including maternity care, substance abuse treatment and mental health care.

Alexander said the bill would not make any change in the law protecting people with pre-existing conditions.

According to a report from the Century Foundation, a non-partisan think tank, the proposed health care bill would increase the number of uninsured Americans, raise health care premiums by as much as 20 percent, raise out-of-pocket costs and deductibles, allow states to remove protections for people with pre-existing conditions, end Medicaid expansion and give tax breaks to wealthy Americans, drug companies and insurance providers. The report is available online at tcf.org.

Former President Barack Obama, in a post published on his Facebook page, called on senators to put aside partisanship and do what is in the best interest of the American people.

“Simply put, if there’s a chance you might get sick, get old or start a family – this bill will do you harm,” Obama said. “And small tweaks over the course of the next couple of weeks, under the guise of making these bills easier to stomach, cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation.”

The draft is a modified version of a bill presented to the Senate from the U.S. House, which passed its bill last month. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week, according to Alexander.

The draft of the health care bill may be read in its entirety online at budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/SENATEHEALTHCARE.pdf.</s>The first draft of the Senate Republican healthcare bill is finally here.

Called the “Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017,” the 142-page bill at first glance appears not too different from its House of Representatives counterpart, the American Health Care Act. It slashes billions from Medicaid in order to cover repeals of the tax increases instituted by the Affordable Care Act, and undoes core components of Obamacare, such as the individual mandate for consumers to purchase health insurance.

More details of what’s in the Better Care act will be coming throughout the day. Most members of Congress and policy experts — shut out of the covert process by which the bill was crafted over the past few weeks — will be learning the details of it at the same time as the public.

You can read the full text of the draft bill below:</s>Mitch McConnell released the Senate's Healthcare Bill Thursday. Dubbed the "Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017," the 142-page proposal includes massive cuts to Medicaid, cuts to hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes for the wealthy and defunding of Planned Parenthood for at least one year. The Congressional Budget Office has not had a chance to score the Senate's bill yet. Under the House bill, the CBO found found that 23 million Americans would lose their healthcare coverage by 2026.</s>President Barack Obama on Thursday spoke out against a proposed GOP Senate bill that dismantles the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

"I recognize that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act has become a core tenet of the Republican Party," Obama wrote in a Facebook post. "Still, I hope that our Senators, many of whom I know well, step back and measure what's really at stake, and consider that the rationale for action, on health care or any other issue, must be something more than simply undoing something that Democrats did."

The GOP-proposed bill would repeal Obamacare's individual mandate, drastically cut back federal support of Medicaid, and eliminate Obamacare's taxes on the wealthy, insurers and others.

Senators are likely to have only a handful of days to decide whether to support or vote against the 142-page bill, which was unveiled on Thursday.

In his statement, Obama said the Senate bill is "not a health care bill."

"It's a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America," he wrote. "It hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by cutting health care for everybody else. Those with private insurance will experience higher premiums and higher deductibles, with lower tax credits to help working families cover the costs, even as their plans might no longer cover pregnancy, mental health care, or expensive prescriptions. Discrimination based on pre-existing conditions could become the norm again. Millions of families will lose coverage entirely."

The former President argued that he fought for the ACA "for more than a year" alongside "thousands upon thousands of Americans" because "we knew it would save lives, prevent financial misery, and ultimately set this country we love on a better, healthier course."

He ended his Facebook post encouraging the public to call members of Congress, visit their offices, speak out and "let them and the country know, in very real terms, what this means for you and your family."

"After all, this debate has always been about something bigger than politics," he wrote. "It's about the character of our country -- who we are, and who we aspire to be. And that's always worth fighting for."

The Senate bill is similar to the version of the House measure that passed last month. Trump has since called it "mean," despite celebrating it at the Rose Garden with House Republicans.

Democrats have blasted the Senate bill, with some calling it "meaner."

Four conservative Republican senators -- Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson and Mike Lee -- said they opposed the current version. And key votes such as Sens. Dean Heller and Susan Collins have also withheld support.</s>The Senate’s health care legislation does vary somewhat from the House’s already passed bill.</s>The Latest on Senate Republicans’ health care bill (all times local):

The trade association for Catholic hospitals and nursing homes says it strongly opposes the Senate Republican health care bill, warning it would have a “devastating impact” on the poor and frail.

Sister Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association, says Congress should start over with a bipartisan approach.

Keehan says, “The small tweaks made in the newly released Senate bill do not change the fact that millions will lose their health care, especially through a complete restructuring and deep federal funding reduction to the Medicaid program.”

Former President Barack Obama once credited Keehan for helping pass the Affordable Care Act, now in Republican crosshairs. Keehan publicly supported the legislation at critical points in the 2009-10 congressional debate that led to its passage.

AARP is blasting the Senate Republican health care bill and calling on every senator to vote no.

AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond said in a statement Thursday that the bill would hit millions of Americans with higher costs and result in less health coverage.

The bill would allow insurers to charge older adults up to five times as much as younger adults. LeaMond says AARP, which represents some 38 million Americans age 50 and older, is “adamantly opposed to the Age Tax.”

AARP is also raising concerns about cuts in Medicaid, saying they will leave millions “at risk of losing the care they need and erode seniors’ ability to live in their homes and communities.”

The top U.S. doctors group says it is still reviewing the Senate Republican health care plan, but says it strongly opposes limits on Medicaid spending.

American Medical Association President Dr. David Barbe (Barb) said Thursday the group has a “grave concern with a formula that will not cover needed care for vulnerable patients.”

He says the AMA’s main objectives are that people who are currently insured should not lose coverage and that safety-net programs should be adequately funded.

The AMA has about a quarter-million members.

The Senate GOP bill would cut and revamp Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides coverage for low-income Americans.

An addiction treatment advocacy group says the Senate health care plan falls short in confronting the opioid epidemic.

Joseph J. Plumeri of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse says the proposed cuts to Medicaid mean fewer people will receive treatment for addiction. He says anyone who supports the legislation “cannot claim to be committed to ending the opioid epidemic.”

The Senate bill would create a $2 billion fund to provide grants to states in support of substance abuse treatment and recovery, and also to help care for people with mental health problems. But advocates say the current financing provided through Medicaid is far greater — and open-ended.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, had sought $45 billion over 10 years to combat the addiction crisis.

U.S. Capitol Police have arrested 43 people who were protesting proposed cuts to Medicaid inside a Senate office building.

In a statement, Capitol Police say the protesters “removed themselves from their wheelchairs and lay themselves on the floor, obstructing passage through the hallway and into nearby offices.”

Some of the protesters were yelling “no cuts to Medicaid” as they were being led away by police.

The protest came on the same day Senate Republican leaders released their version of a bill that would repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s health law. The bill limits Medicaid spending.

Capitol Police say those arrested were charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding, which means inconveniencing or disturbing others.

Former President Barack Obama says the Senate’s GOP-written health care bill will cause millions of families to lose health care coverage.

The former president issued a statement on his Facebook page as Senate Republicans unveiled a plan to dismantle Obama’s signature presidential achievement.

Obama called Senate Republicans’ health care bill a “massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America.” He also says it “hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by cutting health care for everybody else.”

The former president says amending the GOP-written bill “cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation.”

Obama says he hopes there are “enough Republicans in Congress who remember that public service is not about sport or notching a political win.”

Medical groups are beginning to weigh in on the Senate Republican health care bill, and they have problems with the proposal.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says the bill would hurt children by scaling back Medicaid. Its president, Dr. Fernando Stein, says the plan was crafted without input from pediatricians and “would tear down” the progress the nation has made by achieving insurance coverage for 95 percent of children.

America’s Essential Hospitals, which represents more than 300 safety-net health facilities, says the version the Senate released Thursday “might be worse overall” than the House legislation and might lead to hospitals reducing services or closing.

The Association of American Medical Colleges says the Senate plan would leave millions of people without health coverage, and others with only bare-bones insurance plans.

Four Republican senators say they are not ready to vote for the GOP health care bill, putting the measure in jeopardy.

The four are Ted Cruz of Texas, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky. They say in a statement that they are open to negotiation before the full Senate considers the measure.

The four say there are provisions that are an improvement to the current health care system. But they add that the measure fails to accomplish what they have promised to their constituents, “to repeal Obamacare and lower their health care costs.”

GOP leaders hope to vote on the bill next week and can only afford two defections from the 52 Senate Republicans.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky says he and three other Republican senators are preparing to announced their opposition to the Senate health care bill as it’s written.

Their opposition puts the bill in jeopardy, since Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can lose only two Republican senators and still pass the legislation.

Paul tells The Associated Press in an interview that the bill released Thursday resembles “Obamacare” too closely and does not go far enough to repeal former President Barack Obama’s law.

Paul says that he and the other senators are “definitely open to negotiation” but that they need to make their opposition clear in order to ensure negotiations happen.

McConnell is pushing toward a vote next week but Paul’s stance throws that into question.

U.S. Capitol Police are arresting dozens of people who are protesting cuts to Medicaid in the Senate Republicans’ health care bill.

The protesters have filled a hallway in one of the Senate office buildings, outside the office of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Some of the protesters are being escorted individually. Others are much more reluctant to leave and it’s taking four or five officers to carry them out.

The protesters are yelling “no cuts to Medicaid” as they are being led away.

One protester says he’s with the disability rights group ADAPT. Phillip Corona says he traveled from Wisconsin to make his voice heard. Corona says Medicaid helps his son Anthony get out of bed every morning. Phillip Corona fears that changes to the program “would possibly mean putting him in a nursing home.”

Alison Barkoff — director of advocacy for the Center for Public Representation — helped organize the protest. She says the protesters rely on Medicaid to help them live and she says the health bill amounts to “tax cuts for the wealthy on the backs of people with disabilities.”

Democrats are roundly criticizing the Republican plan to scrap the Obama health care law.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke on the Senate floor Thursday moments after the GOP’s 142-page discussion draft was posted online. Republicans had been briefed on the plan behind closed doors.

Schumer says, “We live in the wealthiest country on earth. Surely we can do better than what the Republican health care bill promises.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi assails the GOP bill as a tax break for wealthy Americans. The bill would eliminate the requirement that Americans buy insurance or face a tax penalty.

President Donald Trump is expressing hope that the Senate will pass a health care plan “with heart” following the release of a Republican plan to dismantle President Barack Obama’s health law.

Trump says at the start of a White House event on technology he is hopeful Congress will get something done on health care “with heart.”

The president spoke shortly after Senate Republicans released a 142-page draft of their bill to get rid of much of Obama’s law.

The bill faces broad opposition from Democrats. But Trump says that Republicans would love to have Democratic support.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is praising the Republican plan to scuttle the Obama’s health overhaul, arguing it’s the right alternative to a “failed” law.

Moments after the 142-page discussion draft was unveiled, McConnell spoke on the Senate floor, renewing his criticism of the seven-year-old law.

He outlined the GOP plan that would cut Medicaid, slash taxes and waive the requirement that Americans purchase health insurance.

Senate Republicans had been briefed on the plan earlier Thursday.

Emerging from the session, McConnell did not answer when asked if he has the votes to pass the GOP proposal. A vote would occur next week after budget analysts assess the package.

Senate Republicans have released a 142-page draft of their bill to eliminate much of the Obama health care law.

The measure would cut and revamp Medicaid, the health care program for lower-income and disabled people.

It would repeal tax increases Obama’s law imposed on higher-income people and medical industry companies to pay for expanded coverage. And it would end the tax penalty Obama’s statute imposes on people who don’t buy insurance — in effect, ending the so-called individual mandate.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is hoping to push the measure through the Senate next week. But its fate remains uncertain.

It faces uniform Democratic opposition. And at least a half-dozen Republicans — both conservatives and moderates — have complained about it.

Senate Republicans are holding a private meeting to hear from leaders about their long-awaited plan for eliminating much of President Barack Obama’s health law.

Lobbyists and congressional aides say the Senate bill would cut Medicaid, end penalties for people not buying insurance and rescind tax increases that Obama imposed to help pay for his law’s expansion of coverage.

Republicans plan to make their plan public later Thursday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell developed the bill behind closed doors. The measure represents his attempt to satisfy GOP moderates and conservatives who’ve complained about the measure.

McConnell hopes to push the measure through the Senate next week. But it remains unclear whether he will have enough votes.</s>The new AHCA is a lot like the old AHCA.

After weeks of secret gestation in back rooms, the Senate released a discussion draft of the chamber’s version of the American Health Care Act. Like the version passed through the House to cheers in May, it is likely to make health care less affordable for low-income, sick, and near-elderly people; it makes Obamacare tax credits for exchange coverage less generous; it restricts and slashes Medicaid funding deeply over the next decade; and it attempts to smooth euphemistically-named “market disruptions” from all those reforms by injecting billions into state funds and reinsurance.</s>The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 is here, and investors aren’t remotely concerned.

Senate Republicans unveiled their bid to overhaul the Affordable Care Act on Thursday morning, amid protests outside GOP Senate offices.

It is safe to say the protesters weren’t representing owners of health-care stocks. The Health Care Select...</s>Former President Barack Obama says the Senate's GOP-written health care bill will cause millions of families to lose health care coverage.

The former president issued a statement on his Facebook page as Senate Republicans unveiled a plan to dismantle Obama's signature presidential achievement.

Obama called Senate Republicans' health care bill a "massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America." He also says it "hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by cutting health care for everybody else."

The former president says amending the GOP-written bill "cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation."

Obama says he hopes there are "enough Republicans in Congress who remember that public service is not about sport or notching a political win."

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, is in a "death spiral" and needs to be repealed and replaced.

Here is Obama's response in its entirety:

 

 Our politics are divided. They have been for a long time. And while I know that division makes it difficult to listen to Americans with whom we disagree, that’s what we need to do today.

I recognize that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act has become a core tenet of the Republican Party. Still, I hope that our Senators, many of whom I know well, step back and measure what’s really at stake, and consider that the rationale for action, on health care or any other issue, must be something more than simply undoing something that Democrats did.

We didn’t fight for the Affordable Care Act for more than a year in the public square for any personal or political gain – we fought for it because we knew it would save lives, prevent financial misery, and ultimately set this country we love on a better, healthier course.

Nor did we fight for it alone. Thousands upon thousands of Americans, including Republicans, threw themselves into that collective effort, not for political reasons, but for intensely personal ones – a sick child, a parent lost to cancer, the memory of medical bills that threatened to derail their dreams.

And you made a difference. For the first time, more than ninety percent of Americans know the security of health insurance. Health care costs, while still rising, have been rising at the slowest pace in fifty years. Women can’t be charged more for their insurance, young adults can stay on their parents’ plan until they turn 26, contraceptive care and preventive care are now free. Paying more, or being denied insurance altogether due to a preexisting condition – we made that a thing of the past.

We did these things together. So many of you made that change possible.

At the same time, I was careful to say again and again that while the Affordable Care Act represented a significant step forward for America, it was not perfect, nor could it be the end of our efforts – and that if Republicans could put together a plan that is demonstrably better than the improvements we made to our health care system, that covers as many people at less cost, I would gladly and publicly support it.

That remains true. So I still hope that there are enough Republicans in Congress who remember that public service is not about sport or notching a political win, that there’s a reason we all chose to serve in the first place, and that hopefully, it’s to make people’s lives better, not worse.

But right now, after eight years, the legislation rushed through the House and the Senate without public hearings or debate would do the opposite. It would raise costs, reduce coverage, roll back protections, and ruin Medicaid as we know it. That’s not my opinion, but rather the conclusion of all objective analyses, from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which found that 23 million Americans would lose insurance, to America’s doctors, nurses, and hospitals on the front lines of our health care system.

The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill. It’s a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America. It hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by cutting health care for everybody else. Those with private insurance will experience higher premiums and higher deductibles, with lower tax credits to help working families cover the costs, even as their plans might no longer cover pregnancy, mental health care, or expensive prescriptions. Discrimination based on pre-existing conditions could become the norm again. Millions of families will lose coverage entirely.

Simply put, if there’s a chance you might get sick, get old, or start a family – this bill will do you harm. And small tweaks over the course of the next couple weeks, under the guise of making these bills easier to stomach, cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation.

I hope our Senators ask themselves – what will happen to the Americans grappling with opioid addiction who suddenly lose their coverage? What will happen to pregnant mothers, children with disabilities, poor adults and seniors who need long-term care once they can no longer count on Medicaid? What will happen if you have a medical emergency when insurance companies are once again allowed to exclude the benefits you need, send you unlimited bills, or set unaffordable deductibles? What impossible choices will working parents be forced to make if their child’s cancer treatment costs them more than their life savings?

To put the American people through that pain – while giving billionaires and corporations a massive tax cut in return – that’s tough to fathom. But it’s what’s at stake right now. So it remains my fervent hope that we step back and try to deliver on what the American people need.

That might take some time and compromise between Democrats and Republicans. But I believe that’s what people want to see. I believe it would demonstrate the kind of leadership that appeals to Americans across party lines. And I believe that it’s possible – if you are willing to make a difference again. If you’re willing to call your members of Congress. If you are willing to visit their offices. If you are willing to speak out, let them and the country know, in very real terms, what this means for you and your family.

After all, this debate has always been about something bigger than politics. It’s about the character of our country – who we are, and who we aspire to be. And that’s always worth fighting for.
The U.S. Senate releases its version of the American Health Care Act of 2017.