The Atlantic

The Hasty Resurrection of the American Health Care Act

The Republican plan to replace Obamacare is back under discussion, but its prospects for success are no clearer than they were before.
Source: J. Scott Applewhite / AP

It’s revival time for the American Health Care Act.

The Republican repeal-and-replace plan for Obamacare died an unceremonious death last month when President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan abandoned the bill minutes before a floor vote that they knew was doomed to fail.

But now, just in time for Easter, the bill has seemingly and is back under discussion on Capitol Hill. Vice President Mike Pence is shuttling once again between the White House and the clubhouse of the House Freedom Caucus, dangling a proposal to push the legislation even further to the right in order to secure the votes of the by allowing states, under certain conditions, to gut the regulations undergirding that pledge.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
The Return of the John Birch Society
Michael Smart chuckled as he thought back to their banishment. Truthfully he couldn’t say for sure what the problem had been, why it was that in 2012, the John Birch Society—the far-right organization historically steeped in conspiracism and oppositi
The Atlantic17 min read
How America Became Addicted to Therapy
A few months ago, as I was absent-mindedly mending a pillow, I thought, I should quit therapy. Then I quickly suppressed the heresy. Among many people I know, therapy is like regular exercise or taking vitamin D: something a sensible person does rout
The Atlantic7 min readAmerican Government
The Americans Who Need Chaos
This is Work in Progress, a newsletter about work, technology, and how to solve some of America’s biggest problems. Sign up here. Several years ago, the political scientist Michael Bang Petersen, who is based in Denmark, wanted to understand why peop

Related Books & Audiobooks