Crafted in complete secret for weeks, Senate Republicans' version of the House's American Health Care Act (AHCA) was finally revealed to the full Senate — and more importantly, the public — on Thursday. The plan of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had been to have a vote by the end of next week, limiting time for debate in the Senate and feedback from the public. That's now pushed to next week.
The Senate draft bill — called the Better Care Reconciliation Act — remains largely similar to the wildly unpopular House bill but adds significantly deeper cuts to Medicaid, further harming low-income families and American with disabilities. The draft bill does not show any semblance of human decency let alone the "heart" President Trump claimed to hope for . In fact, Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden called the bill an "immoral monstrosity."
Not convinced? This week, the Center for American Progress released state-by-state estimates of the additional deaths that could result due to coverage reductions under the bill, along with analysis showing how a slush fund for opioid addiction treatment cannot substitute for Medicaid and other comprehensive coverage.