Senate will move to repeal Obamacare this week: McConnell
The US Senate will act this week to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The Republican senator from Kentucky said Sunday that Congress would quickly come up with a new health-insurance system after repealing the Affordable Care Act in coming days.
“We will be replacing it rapidly after repealing it,” McConnell said on CBS. “There ought not to be a great gap between the first step and the second.”
Republican leaders have come under criticism for their stated intention to scrap the existing healthcare law, known as Obamacare, without offering a viable alternative first.
McConnell said the Senate would send the repeal bill to the House of Representatives for approval.
A senior House Republican, however, said it could take two years to fully replace Obamacare.
"I think everybody recognizes that there will be a transition period," House Majority Whip Steve Scalise told Fox News. "President-elect Trump and our leaders have said nobody is going to get the rug pulled out from underneath them."
Since the November 8 presidential election, Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, has said he wants to move quickly on his campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.
President Obama on Friday suggested he would be willing to support the Obamacare repeal if Republican lawmakers, who control both chambers of Congress, presented a good replacement.
“If it actually works, I will be the first one to say, ‘Great,’” Obama said. But he added, "I suspect that will not happen."
Healthcare experts say about 30 million people could lose health insurance if Obamacare is repealed without a proper replacement.
Republicans criticize the 2010 law as an excessive government intrusion into the healthcare market and contend it is harming economic growth by burdening businesses.
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