After a series of votes this week failed to pass the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA), the Senate version of repeal and replace of the ACA, or the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017 (ORRA), which was the repeal and delay approach, Senate Republicans attempted one last bill entitled the Health Care Freedom Act (HCFA) – the so-called “skinny” repeal bill. However, early this morning HCFA was also defeated when three Republican Senators joined Democrats in voting down this version of ACA repeal as well. For a complete explanation of what HCFA would have done, check out the blog post on Health Affairs.
So what happens now? Republican leadership in the Senate indicated that they plan to move on to other issues, but the possibility remains that they could take up ACA repeal again in the future. We will continue to monitor the status of health care reform in Congress and report on any renewed efforts to repeal, replace or repair the ACA. In the meantime, you can view the NDNRC statement on health reform which we released after the election last November which includes the provisions of the ACA which we believe are vital to people with disabilities. In the statement entitled “Preserve the Protections Provided by the Affordable Care Act,” we call on Congress and the Administration to protect provisions in the ACA which have benefited people with disabilities.