The House voted 217-213 this afternoon to repeal major swaths of the Affordable Care Act and replace them with a plan that was not released in full to the public before the vote, was not scored by the CBO, would result in millions of people losing coverage, and would likely affect the coverage of pre-existing conditions.
GOPers celebrated with Bud Light and a laugh-filled confab at the White House with Donald Trump even though a) It's only passed the House, b) Some GOP members of the Senate oppose the bill in its current form, including Rob Portman, who's concerned about its impact on Medicaid expansion in Ohio and c) It's probably in poor form to celebrate something that will cost 24 million people to lose their insurance, if the CBO score of the previous version of the bill is anything close to its score of this one.
Anyway, the vote fell mostly down party lines but 20 Republicans, including Dave Joyce and Mike Turner from Ohio, voted no. Otherwise, every GOP House member from the Buckeye voted yes, including Jim Renacci, who is running for governor and is basically a Trump stooge. (Here's Renacci's non-answer on if pre-existing conditions would still be covered under the American Health Care Act). The others: OH-1 Steve Chabot; OH-4 Jim Jordan; OH-5 Rob Latta; OH-6 Bill Johnson; OH-8 Warren Davidson; OH-12 Pat Tiberi; OH-15 Steve Stivers.
Ohio Dems had plenty to say in opposition. Here's Marcy Kaptur's statement:
“It is shameful that Republican leaders in Congress are ramming through this bill before the American people, or Congress, can even read it.
“So intent to fulfill a campaign ruse and reward insurance companies again, House Republicans are lurching ahead without even waiting for the nonpartisan experts at the Congressional Budget Office to tell us the real costs of the bill.
“This legislation will impact every single person in this country and without this vital analysis, it is uncertain how this proposal would impact Ohio, where we have successfully expanded coverage to 900,000 individuals.
“TrumpCare part two is the same bill it was before, a giant tax cut for the rich at the expense of 24 million people who would lose their insurance. Except for this time, they are gutting critical consumer protections like the ban on dropping coverage because of pre-existing conditions. The American people need a helping hand and this bill is a slap in the face.”
