Who’s to blame for cancelling Obamacare replacement bill?

by Hans Izaak Kriek*

Who’s to blame for cancelling the replacement? President Donald Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan or House GOP Leaders? The GOP Leaders pull Paul Ryan's Obamacare bill off the floor again, that's the thing. Trump's reaction on Twitter: "I don't blame Paul."

It was clear that the bill was pulled at President Trump's request despite earlier reports that the President wanted a vote, whether or not the bill had the votes to pass. Later reports indicated it was Ryan who urged Trump that the bill needed to be pulled. It was unclear as of Friday afternoon who was ultimately responsible for the decision to pull the bill. The vote was previously scheduled for Thursday evening but was cancelled within hours of the White House assuring that there would be a vote. 

Vice President Mike Pence cancelled his plans to travel and promote the AHCA in two states to remain in Washington, D.C. and work with the President. White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said that if the House Leadership's bill failed, Obamacare would continue and that's what happened.

In the US House of Representatives all 193 Democrats were against the Republican dismantling of Obamacare. If more than 22 Republicans would have vote against the plan for Trump Care would have been cancelled. But a number of Republicans in the House said Trumps proposal was still too expensive and looked too much like Obamacare. 

Others reject the proposal because in their constituencies many people were at risk of dropping out of the health insurance system. Earlier it was estimated on the night that 36 Republicans would vote against the proposal substantially. Conclusion is that GOP House leaders must learn how to deal with their own decisions in future.

Trump's decision to withdraw the proposal means Obamacare still exist. It's unknown whether Trump comes up with a new proposal. In his first address to Congress, he laid out his agenda on issues like immigration, the economy, foreign affairs and …. health care. The president told reporters he is convinced that Obamacare is slowly collapsing. He said, "we will end up in the future with a Health Care Act which will be excellent".

*Hans Izaak Kriek is an international political commentator for European Business Review and editor-in-chief of Kriek Media.