Important Updates on Senate Health Care Debate: Day 3

Montana Women Vote
Jul 27, 2017 · 3 min read

The Senate will likely consider a “skinny repeal” in the remaining hours of debate that would move the bill into a “conference” between the Senate and House. This conference would be used as a negotiation space for determining what the final health care bill version would be. The Senate and House GOP seem to have opposing thoughts on what they ultimately want to repeal (Example: the “Skinny” bill doesn’t touch Medicaid, while the House version does), thus requiring more time in conference to come up with an agreement. Whatever happens in conference will likely remain the stuff of rumor; it’s another set of closed-door policy crafting that the public will have little information about before moving forward in the process.

The semantics of calling this bill “skinny” don’t do justice to the consequences of passage. It’s estimated that 16 million people would lose health coverage and premiums would increase by 20%. In this version, the individual and employer mandates are scrapped, leaving mostly sick folks to foot the bill for our entire health care system. More than likely, the “skinny bill” is a “Trojan horse” for dramatically cutting Medicaid. This bill is yet another iteration of health care policy that would be unaffordable for our communities.

More importantly, it is possible that Senate Republicans they have the votes they need to get to conference. We need to do everything we can reach out to our Senators and make our voices heard, but know that this fight could extend even longer.

In the midst of all of this, Senator Daines has made national news for proposing an amendment this morning that would force Senate Democrats to vote on single-payer healthcare. Yet again, instead of listening to the concerns of his constituents and working to protect Montana families from the devastating policy proposals of his peers, Senator Daines is playing politics.

Give Senator Daines a call this morning and tell him that Montana families can’t afford for their Senator to be playing politics in this moment. Let him know that we won’t stand for anything that cuts coverage for even one person in our state, and that we hope he’ll re-focus his attention on working for his constituents. Senator Daines: (202) 224–2651

Then, consider ringing up Senator Tester to thank him for continuing to defend health care access for all Montanans. Senator Tester (202) 224–2644

You can watch debate on Senator Daines’ amendment by clicking here. We will keep you posted as more becomes clear about the “skinny bill” as it becomes clearer. Vote-a-rama (a slew of amendments and votes on the floor) in the Senate is in progress now. You can watch it by clicking here.


UPDATE 11:00am, July 27th: Former Montana Representative and current Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke “warns Alaska Senator Murkowski that Trump “wasn’t pleased” with her health care vote. The administration, from all angles, is trying to whip votes in any way they can. Please call Senator Daines and Tester this morning and ask them to protect health care access for all Montanans. Senator Daines: (202) 224–2651. Senator Tester (202) 224–2644

Senate Vote-A-Rama
Montana Women Vote

Written by

Organizng Montana women, families, and allies since 2000. @MT_WomenVote #CountOnIt

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade