Paul Ryan tells Donald Trump that health bill doesn't have votes to pass
House Speaker Paul Ryan told President Donald Trump on Friday that the bill he has advanced to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's health care law will not have enough votes to pass.
Some lawmakers and news outlets speculated that the bill would be pulled, but when asked about it during the daily briefing White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, "We are proceeding with a 3:30 p.m. vote as scheduled."
Ryan's meeting with Trump occurred as lawmakers were about halfway through a four-hour debate over the bill, the American Health Care Act, on the House floor. After weeks of negotiating the bill with lawmakers and making changes demanded by both conservative and moderate members of the Republican party, Trump told the House it must vote in favor of the bill Friday or he would move on to other priorities.
"It's not a question of negotiating anymore, it's about understanding what's at hand," Spicer said.
The Hill's whip list had projected that about 30 Republicans planned to vote against the bill, which is more than the 22 defections the party can afford.
The American Health Care Act, is opposed by major medical groups, outside conservative groups and the majority of the American people.
The latest government analysis – which does not take into account the latest changes to the bill that were added Thursday night, including a fund for mental health, addiction and maternity care – projected the American Health Care Act would increase the number of uninsured by 24 million people by 2026 and result in $150 billion in savings, which was less than half of what had previously been estimated by an earlier report.
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