<p>The Senate&rsquo;s &ldquo;repeal and replace&rdquo; health care bill collapsed early this week after several Republican lawmakers refused to endorse it. ;</p>
<p><a href="https://punchingbagpost.com/obamacare-replacement-sidelined---new-strategy-clean-repeal-now-replacement-later/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>As we wrote on Tuesday</strong></a>, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is now focused on a strict repeal. The bill would include &ldquo;a two-year delay to provide for a stable transition period to a patient-centered healthcare system that gives Americans access to quality, affordable care,&rdquo; said McConnell.</p>
<p>According to the Congressional Budget Office, such a move would rob 30 million people of coverage and cause premiums to increase by 20-25%.</p>
<p>President Trump, who for some time now has urged lawmakers to focus on repealing Obamacare if they can&rsquo;t pass a reform bill, said Tuesday that he is willing to &ldquo;just let Obamacare fail.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>After seven years of campaigning, Republicans have discovered that their own divisions are preventing them from delivering on their promise to repeal Obamacare. Trump invited all GOP senators to a luncheon on Wednesday during which they discussed how to move forward.</p>
<p>After the luncheon, McConnell announced that the repeal vote will be pushed to next week ;&ldquo;at the request of the president and vice president.&#8221;</p>
<p>It is unlikely the vote will pass. McConnell can afford to lose only two GOP senators, but at least three have already expressed disapproval.</p>
<p>&ldquo;To just say repeal and &lsquo;Trust us, we&rsquo;re going to fix it in a couple of years,&rsquo; that&rsquo;s not going to provide comfort to the anxiety that a lot of Alaskan families are feeling right now,&rdquo; says Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), adding that lawmakers must come up with a bipartisan solution. ;</p>
<p>Moderate Republicans have expressed a desire to sit down with Democrats and work on developing fixes to Obamacare markets with advice from state governors and other stakeholders. And the Dems are ready to cooperate.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Democrats extend the hand of friendship if Republicans will set aside repeal, abandon cuts to Medicaid, and abandon huge tax breaks for the wealthy,&rdquo; said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). ;</p>
<p>Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) says he will soon hold hearings on ways to stabilize struggling insurance markets. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Republican leaders can embrace their entreaties, try to forge ahead with a partisan health care bill, or shelve their repeal efforts and move onto tax reform,&rdquo; reports <em>The Washington Times. ;</em></p>
<p>In the meantime, the problems with Obamacare will continue. Some rural areas still don&#8217;t have an insurer lined up for 2018, and a whopping one-fifth of total exchange enrollment have just one option for healthcare &ndash; not to mention the increase in premiums. Open enrollment for 2018 begins in November. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;This has been a very, very challenging experience for all of us,&rdquo; said McConnell. &ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s given it their best shot, and as of today, we just simply do not have 50 senators who can agree on what ought to replace the existing law.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p> ;</p>