The Affordable Care Act Lives to See Another
Day—Repeal and Replace is Dead (for Now). The
Republican seven-year quest to repeal and replace the Affordable
Care Act (ACA) took a dramatic, possibly fatal hit early this week.
In addition to the political fallout, the spectacular crumbling of
the latest Senate effort to pass the Better Care Reconciliation Act
of 2017 (BCRA) presents great uncertainty for insurers, employers,
and health care recipients. The massive collapse was the
Senate's second attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable
Care Act. By Tuesday, Republicans' "plan B" to
temporarily repeal the ACA without having an immediate replacement
also imploded, when three senators announced their intention to
vote "no" on the plan. While pundits are having a field
day declaring the repeal and replace effort dead as a doornail, the
pent-up pressure to overturn President Obama's signature
legislation is not likely to dissipate rapidly and is likely to
eventually lead
