The last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare in the US may be 'stillborn' again

US President Donald Trump's last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare is likely to be 'stillborn' due to lack of support from within the Republican Party.

US Republican Senator Susan Collins announced on September 25 that she would oppose her party’s last-ditch effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. The decision came despite intense lobbying from Republicans and her promise to pour money into Maine.

US Republican Senator Susan Collins. (Photo: Reuters)

The most moderate Republican senators have joined Senators John McCain and Rand Paul in opposing the bill to end Obamacare, a blow to President Donald Trump, who has made reversing his predecessor Barack Obama’s signature law a top priority since his 2016 campaign.

Mr. Trump even tried to persuade Ms. Susan Collins to change her mind in a phone call on September 25.

“The president called me today, the vice president called me over the weekend, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price called me… it would be shorter to list the people who haven’t called me about this bill,” Collins said.

The top reason Senator Susan Collins made the decision was because the bill to repeal Obamacare would cut Medicaid, a program for low-income citizens and children with disabilities, while her state of Maine has up to 20% of the population depending on that program.

“Taking away a program that has been law for more than 50 years and making such fundamental structural changes without in-depth hearings to assess its impact on our most vulnerable citizens is unacceptable,” Collins said.

Ms Collins also opposes the bill because it eliminates protections for people with pre-existing health problems such as asthma, cancer or diabetes.

The decision came even as the bill's sponsors, Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, proposed a 43 percent increase in federal health care funding for Maine as well as benefits for states with undecided senators.

Repealing Obamacare has been a goal of the US Republican Party since the law was passed in 2010. They believe that although it expands health insurance to about 20 million more Americans, it is an unjustified and costly government intervention in the health care system, and they oppose the taxes that this law imposes on the wealthy.

Republicans currently hold a slim majority in the Senate of 52 of the 100 seats and are facing a September 30 deadline to pass a bill to repeal Obamacare with just a simple majority, rather than the 60-vote threshold required for most other measures.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had wanted to hold a vote this week, but it is unclear how he will handle it as three Republican senators have announced they will vote against it, leaving just 49 in favor of the bill, far short of a simple majority to pass the plan.

Senator Lindsey Graham rejected the notion that this was a last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare, pledging to continue to improve and push the bill.

Meanwhile, Democrats said that as long as Obamacare repeal is off the table, they will work with Republicans “to find a compromise that can stabilize the market and reduce premiums.” Both Collins and McCain of the Republican Party support a bipartisan approach to amending parts of the Obamacare law that are currently not really effective./.

According to VOV