Congress Just Made it Way Easier to Repeal Obamacare
Last night, while the good and hard-working people of the United States were sleeping, the Senate decided to have a powwow to begin plotting the repeal of Obamacare.
But wait what is Obamacare? Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, was a law enacted in 2010 that made access to health insurance easier to people whose employers don’t offer it.
It also reduced the overall prices of healthcare, improved Medicare and Medicaid coverage, forced health insurance providers to accept people with pre-existing conditions, and let kids stay on their parents plan until they turn 26. Think about that — before 2010, when kids graduated from college, they were on their own unless they got a job that offered healthcare right away.
The system is definitely not perfect though. Republicans mainly have a problem with it because it imposes a lot of costs on businesss. They have even called it a “job killer” according the BBC, even though jobs in the healthcare sector have increased nine percent since Obamacare was enacted.
Another problem is that premiums have also increased a fuck ton since Obamacare was put in place, but government subsidies given to help pay for insurance have tried to help counteract that increase.
The members of Senate gathered last night to vote in what’s known as a vote-a-rama (yes, seriously), which is when several pending matters are suddenly voted on all at once, but the vote to repeal Obamacare definitely generated the most heat on the floor.
No one ever really thought that the vote last night would even happen because Senator Bob Corker from Tennessee had written an amendment that would have prevented the Senate from voting on anything until March. But at the last second, he removed it, and the Senators were pushed to voting on repealing Obamacare.
This move would really make the Republicans looks like assholes by leaving millions of people without insurance, which is why people thought they’d avoid it. But it looks like they don’t give a shit.
The Democrats who tried to save it by voting against repealing Obamacare began protesting by telling stories of people that they knew would be harmed by the repeal.
READ MORE: So Many Celebs Are Attending the Women’s March on Washington
VIDEO: Here is how the Democrats’ vote-a-rama rules protest of repeal effort unfolded on Senate floor after 1am pic.twitter.com/r34Gyempeo
— Kelly O’Donnell (@KellyO) January 12, 2017
The Democrats offered several other solutions to fix the problems Republicans have with Obamacare, but to no avail. With the final vote of 51-48 around 1 a.m., the Senate basically left the door wide open for 20 million Americans to lose their health insurance if Obamacare is repealed.
Story continues below
While the vote last night did not repeal Obamacare, the vote will allow the Senate to pass a budget resolution that will kill the Affordable Care Act through what’s known as budget reconciliation. That means they have put an order to fix the 2017 fiscal budget, and that fix can be to stop spending money on Obamacare, effectively killing it.
That will be another process though that is sure to come in the new few weeks. So hold onto your seats people. I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to be crazy.
