While GOP Health Bill Remains in Limbo, See How it Affects You

Congress returns to Washington this week and Senate Republicans appear no closer to an agreement about how to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

During the holiday break, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opened the door to fixing the current law.

"If my side is unable to agree on an adequate replacement," said McConnell, "then some kind of action on, with regard to private health insurance market, must occur."

Such action might even include something unheard of in today’s Washington – working with Democrats on major legislation.

McConnell had wanted to pass the bill before Independence Day, because he worried he might lose votes over the break, and that seems to be happening. Senators who opposed the bill, like Maine’s Susan Collins, remain opposed. And pressure from voters has even pushed reliable Republicans, like Kansas’ Jerry Moran, to speak out against the bill. McConnell wants one more chance to rewrite it, and a vote probably won’t happen until next week at the earliest.

Democrats, meanwhile, have stuck together on one position throughout this debate: They’re not going to talk to Republicans until repeal is off the table. Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy is insisting on it, and he’s been pushing the party leadership to fight harder against the bill. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin would love to be able to say he worked out a fix with Republicans, but even he says that won’t happen until after a vote on the current bill.

Democrats remember what happened in the House, where Republicans leaders declared the bill dead and pulled it, then quickly passed it several weeks later.

Democrats want the bill dead, stabbed through the heart with a stake, shot with a silver bullet and the corpse burned. Then they’ll talk. The party has been struggling to find an identity in the wake of last fall’s election. And there are some factions who think they need to go further on health care. Sen. Chuck Schumer himself alluded to it just last week at the Capitol. 

"Many of us think the public option is a good idea," Schumer said.

What he’s talking about is giving consumers an option to buy a government health plan. It would allow people to buy health insurance through the federal Medicare or Medicaid programs. Democrats think it could solve a couple problems: provide insurance in places where private insurers have pulled out of the Obamacare market, and make insurance less expensive.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says he’ll file a public option bill when the Republican bill is dead. A House bill for a public option has 113 co-sponsors. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is on board. "We already know Medicare works," she said. "We already know Medicaid works. And if you could create a way for people to buy into that, instead of paying an insurance company, I think you would get costs down, because there's no profit in Medicare and Medicaid."

Schumer, meanwhile, hasn’t endorsed the idea. He’s worried about ten Democrats running for reelection in 2018 in states that Trump won. He doesn’t want to hand an easy campaign issue to Republicans, who hold a slim 52-48 majority. Any seats Republicans pick up give them a bigger margin, which means that Obamacare repeal could come right back.

Curious how the GOP bill could affect you? Use NPR's tool to find out what it means for your state.

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