Senate Republicans failed to approve a delayed repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the latest effort to do away with former President Barack Obama's health care law. 

  • Senate in the process of repealing, replacing Affordable Care Act
  • So far no luck in getting enough votes for repeal

The Senate rejected a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act with a two-year delay.

This is based on a 2015 bill that passed the Republican-majority Senate then, but at the time it was well-known that Obama would veto the bill with not enough people to overrule it. It was considered one of the many symbolic repeal votes that were taken.

The vote was 45-55. Senator Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, voted against full repeal, while Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, voted in favor of it.

All Democrats voted against the measure. Among the Republicans who voted against repeal and delay: 

  • Sen. John McCain of Arizona
  • Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio
  • Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
  • Sen. Susan Collins of Maine
  • Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada
  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
  • Sen. Shelly Moore Capito of West Virginia

The Senate also rejected an amendment that would protect Medicaid funding from cuts. The amendment failed on a party line vote, with Democrats supporting the amendment and Republicans against it. 

The Senate is also expected to consider a so-called "skinny repeal" of the Affordable Care Act. 

A "skinny repeal" would remove the most unpopular provisions of the health care law, in particular the mandate that nearly everyone have some sort of health insurance, or face a tax penalty.

It's not quite known what else would be in such a version of the repeal, but already the American Medical Association came out against the skinny repeal.

That's because as more people, particularly healthy people, opt out of the insurance market, premiums will go up for everyone else.

"Eliminating the mandate ... only exacerbates the affordability problem," said the AMA. 

BlueCross BlueShield Association also said Congress has to provide money now to help stabilize shaky state markets for individual policies. Insurers want a guarantee that subsidies to help low-income people with their deductibles will continue. 

Any repeal would also likely have to hold Medicaid harmless to gain support from more moderate Republicans, especially those in swing states. But such a move will then alienate the staunch Republicans who want more of a repeal. 

Republican leaders are trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, after successfully opening up debate on the issue Tuesday.

Lawmakers are introducing amendment after amendment, hoping some of them will stick to the bill that ultimately gets rid of Obamacare.

They had one such vote late Tuesday night.

Late Tuesday night, the Senate voted 57-43 to block a wide-ranging proposal by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell replacing Obama’s statute with a far more restrictive GOP substitute. Those voting "no" included nine Republicans, ranging from conservative Mike Lee of Utah to Maine moderate Susan Collins, in a roll call that raised questions about what if any reshaping of Obama’s law splintered Republicans can muster votes to achieve.

The rejected amendment — the first offered to the bill — was centered on language by McConnell, R-Ky., erasing Obama’s tax penalties on people not buying insurance, cutting Medicaid and trimming its subsidies for consumers. It included a provision by Ted Cruz, R-Texas, letting insurers sell cut-rate policies with skimpy coverage plus an additional $100 billion — sought by Midwestern moderates including Rob Portman, R-Ohio — to help states ease out-of-pocket costs for people losing Medicaid.

GOP defectors also included Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada, who faces a tough re-election fight next year, and usually steady McConnell allies Bob Corker of Tennessee, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kansas’ Jerry Moran.

Some Democrats complained about the numerous health care repeal bills.

The barrage of amendments will lead to something called a Vote-a-Rama, which we could see later this week.

“It’s going to be a Vote-a-Rama, and what basically that is, every 15 minutes there will be a debate on a different amendment, and this can go on for hours, this can go on through the night. We’ve done that in the past in other items. I anticipate that’s the way it will play out now, we will have unlimited amendments, that anyone can offer,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R) Florida explained in a Facebook live video.

Rubio hopes the end result is a bill that repeals and replaces Obamacare.

Democrats however think they can weather the storm.

“These votes, frankly, are a lot tougher for them than they are for us,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “They are squeezed in both directions. That's why we have some degree of hope that they're not going to get this done.”

President Donald Trump and McConnell snatched victory from what seemed a likely defeat and won a 51-50 vote to begin debating the GOP drive against Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which sits atop the party’s legislative priorities.

In a day of thrilling political theater, Vice President Mike Pence broke a tie roll call after Sen. John McCain returned to the Capitol from his struggle against brain cancer to help push the bill over the top. There were defections from just two of the 52 GOP senators — Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkoswki — the precise number McConnell could afford to lose and still carry the day.


The Associated Press contributed to this story.