The First 100 Days, AHCA Down But Not Out, Shutdown Averted

  

AHCA
As President Trump reaches his hundredth day in office, his goal of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has stumbled once again, with Speaker Paul Ryan and House Republican leadership unable to find the necessary votes to pass the American Health Care Act (AHCA) and move debate to the Senate.

As we wrote yesterday, despite newfound support from the House Freedom Caucus, moderate House Republicans are still opposed to the AHCA, in part due to the inclusion of an amendment that would allow states to opt out of programs that provide Essential Health Benefits and maintain Community Rating Provisions. The ANA continues to oppose the AHCA due to serious concerns that the bill would violate key organizational principles and harm both nurses and patients alike.

Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters

Resolved to continue
House and Senate leadership were able to temporarily avert a government shutdown, passing a one-week spending measure on Friday that maintains current spending levels and gives lawmakers additional time to negotiate a longer-term package that will fund the government through September 30th. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi had previously stated that her caucus would not vote for such an agreement if Speaker Ryan and the White House held a vote on the AHCA this week.

100 Days In
While the President has signed a number of executive orders and legislation in his first 100 days that repeal actions taken toward the end of President Obama’s second term, the White House has been consistently stymied by a Congress that seems unwilling to embrace its broader legislative agenda, despite Republican control of both chambers.

The President’s biggest victory is arguably the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was approved by the Senate earlier this month to fill the seat that was vacated following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Despite a limited number of achievements, polling consistently shows that the President’s conservative supporters continue to approve of his job performance and are optimistic he’ll be able to fulfill his campaign promises.

Author: Brian Davis

Legislative Coordinator for ANA. Heading up grassroots efforts and social media on the Policy and Government Relations team.

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