Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017

In Part VII of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we described the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (“BCRA”), the Senate GOP’s latest Obamacare repeal and replace legislation. While the Senate GOP leadership had hoped to vote on this bill as soon as this week, the sudden announcement on July 17th by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) of their opposition to BCRA has effectively killed the legislation as written. With Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Rand Paul (R-KY) having previously voiced their refusal to support BCRA, the bill simply lacks sufficient votes to pass or even be voted on by the full Senate. In response to this development, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued the following statement:
Continue Reading Part VIII: BCRA – What Is Dead May Never Die

Caveat: As of the date of this writing, there are indications that revisions to the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (“BCRA”) are in the works and may be issued as soon as Friday, June 30, 2017. If a revised BCRA is issued, there will be a new CBO report generated with respect to the revised bill. We will continue to watch the progress of the BCRA and, as a result, we will post to this blog additional blog posts regarding BCRA revisions, if any, and the BCRA’s advancement through the Senate, if any.

In Part VI of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we outlined the “Macarthur Amendment” to the American Health Care Act (“AHCA”), which led to the bill’s narrow passage in the House on May 4, 2017. Almost 50 days later, on June 22, 2017, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a “discussion draft” of the Senate’s response: the BCRA. While in large part similar to its House counterpart, there are some important changes, outlined below.
Continue Reading Part VII: The Senate’s Response to the American Health Care Act