www.ahip.org

On February 2, the Senate defeated an amendment by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that called for repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This amendment was offered during the Senate’s consideration of S. 223, the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act.

The Senate did not vote directly on the McConnell amendment. Instead, it voted on a procedural motion that was rejected on a straight party-line vote of 47 to 51, with support from Republicans and opposition from Democrats. Following this vote, Leader McConnell said that “this fight isn’t over,” stating that Republicans will continue to work to repeal the ACA and replace it “with sensible reforms that would lower the cost of American health care, like medical malpractice, like selling insurance across state lines.”

At least one additional ACA-related vote is possible during the Senate floor debate on the FAA bill. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) has filed an amendment that would express the “sense of Congress” that the U.S. Supreme Court should consider the constitutionality of the ACA before the repeal cases go to a U.S. Court of Appeals. This amendment has been filed, but not yet formally offered on the Senate floor. In a February 2 statement on the Senate floor, Senator Nelson expressed concern that it may take another 12 to 18 months before the ACA lawsuits work their way through the appeals court. He urged the Senate to pass his resolution calling for an expedited review by the Supreme Court without waiting for action in the appeals court.

Tags:

This entry was posted by cmonfils on Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 at 10:26 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.