Trending News Today: Super-Majority Needed to Pass Key Provision of GOP Healthcare Bill

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth McDonough recently said that major parts of the GOP healthcare bill would need at least 60 votes to pass, according to Kaiser Health News. Since Republicans only hold 52 seats in the Senate, they would be unable to pass provisions that would temporarily defund Planned Parenthood and those that require patients with breaks in coverage to wait 6 months before purchasing a new plan, Kaiser reported. While budget reconciliation only requires 50 votes from senators and 1 from Vice President Mike Pence, there are certain aspects that cannot be included in the legislation. The rules can be waived, but it would require additional votes from Democrats who have sworn to oppose all bills related to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to the article.

Senate GOP Conference chairman John Thune (R-SD) recently said that even if current plans to repeal the ACA are thwarted, Republicans will try again, according to Politico. As GOP efforts have not succeeded in gaining enough support from legislators thus far, some have considered working with Democrats to craft a bipartisan bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is planning to hold a vote on Tuesday. Thune suggests that even if the bill fails, Republicans will begin working on new legislation, according to the article.

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently urged lawmakers to work together to create bipartisan legislation to help revise the ACA, ABC News reported. The association said that the bills being considered by GOP legislators would result in too many Americans losing coverage. The AMA believes that Democrats and Republicans can work together to fix the ACA in a way that would stabilize the marketplace and not cause too many individuals to lose insurance, according to the article.