McConnell Yanks Senate Health Bill

The legislation faces opposition from both conservatives for not doing enough and from moderates for cutting too much.

The Senate will not consider a GOP health reform bill this week after the latest round of bad reviews from the Congressional Budget Office spooked wary Republicans and majority leader Mitch McConnell canceled a procedural vote that was scheduled for Tuesday.

The Better Care Reconciliation Act, like the House-passed American Health Care Act before it, will now undergo further deliberation before being reconsidered sometime after Congress’s weeklong July 4 recess. Leadership previously had identified the legislature’s August break as the deadline to act.

“We’re still working toward getting at least 50 people in a comfortable place,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday afternoon. He and fellow GOP senators were to meet at the White House later in the evening for discussions with the president, he said.

A handful of members had indicated they would vote against a motion to proceed to the legislation in its current form. They were Sens. Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Ron Johnson, who represent the more conservative opposition to the bill and Dean Heller Susan Collins, who are more moderate. After McConnell announced the vote would be delayed, Ohio senator Rob Portman and West Virginia senator Shelly Moore Capito released a statement detailing their opposition, which cited concerns about Medicaid cuts. Just three of the lawmakers would have been enough to stop the measure from advancing.