Mitch McConnell: GOP health-care bill 'will not be successful'

Mitch McConnell.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) acknowledged Monday night that his health-care proposal is in a death spiral, and he said his new plan is to repeal ObamaCare with a two-year delay, with no replacement plan.

"Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of ObamaCare will not be successful," McConnell said in a statement. "So, in the coming days, the Senate will vote to take up the House bill with the first amendment in order being what a majority in the Senate has already supported in 2015 and that was vetoed by then-President Obama: a repeal of ObamaCare with a two-year delay to provide for a stable transition period to a patient-centered health-care system that gives Americans access to quality, affordable care."

Two GOP senators, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), announced Monday they would not support the motion to proceed on the current version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act, joining Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), leaving McConnell without the necessary number of votes to pass the GOP health-care proposal. President Trump called on Republicans to repeal ObamaCare now and "work on a new health-care plan that will start from a clean slate."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.