Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled their newest health care reform plan, known as “skinny repeal,” with a final vote on the proposal expected late Thursday night or early Friday morning. The new iteration, dubbed the Health Care Freedom Act, includes a repeal of the individual mandate, and the employer mandate would be scrapped for a minimum of six years. Additionally, the legislation will provide more flexibility to states under the Affordable Care Act’s state innovation waivers, allowing them to set insurance regulations. The bill defunds Planned Parenthood for one year, and scraps the tax on medical device manufacturers for three years. The legislation does not include funding for the opioid crisis. Many Republican senators disagreeing with the underlying policies, but are voting “yes” as a mechanism to send the bill to a conference committee with the House to improve the bill.
—Andrew Desiderio
