Democrats Cripple A Key Mechanism To Lower Premiums In Republican Healthcare Bill

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:07 pm

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The key mechanism of waivers for rules governing preexisting conditions and mandatory benefits must be passed with 60 votes, the Senate Parliamentarian ruled after a successful challenge from Senate Budget Committee Democrats.

In a press release provided to PoliticusUSA, the Budget Committee Democrats explained the ruling:

The Senate parliamentarian determined Thursday that portions of Section 207, “Waivers for State Innovation,” of the Republican health care bill are not permissible under Senate rules. Notably, the part that would have amended Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act to allow states to waive essential health benefits and other pre-existing condition requirements so long as their proposal does not increase the federal deficit violates the Byrd Rule.

Under current law, 1332 waivers allow states to waive certain Affordable Care Act provisions as long as they can ensure that they cover the same number of people, same level of services and same protections against high out of pocket costs.

The ranking member on the Budget Committee, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said, “The function of reconciliation is to adjust federal spending and revenue, not to enact major changes in social policy. The parliamentarian’s latest decision reveals once again that Republicans have abused the reconciliation process in an attempt to radically change one-sixth of the American economy by repealing the Affordable Care Act.”

This ruling blows a hole in the mechanism that Republicans were going to use to lower premiums. It also means that Republicans can’t use reconciliation to go it alone and do whatever they please with healthcare.

The fight is long, but details matter, and little by little Senate Democrats are chipping away at this disastrous Republican health care bill.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association