Repeal Fails In The Senate.... Sort Of....

Well, repealing the Affordable Care Act of 2010 is dead. It failed in the Senate today. Not only did it not reach the 60 votes it'll need, no only did it not gain a majority, it's probably not going to change at all this term. The vote was a party line 51-47, meaning the Democrats could have run it to 53-47. In fact, it suggests repeal is not possible in the next Congress either. It's unlikely that the GOP will win 13 seats in 2012. Without 60 votes between now and 2014, this bill is likely to be fully "law." It does call into question whether or not the law will be funded though, at least at this point. My gut instinct is, this one is going to be decided by the courts, at least on the mandate's grounds.

I think the bulk of the law will stand, and that parts of it will begin being altered, beginning this year. Today, that began, as the 1099 Reporting Provision was killed by an 81-17 vote. This unpopular piece of the bill with the AMA is now just a House vote away from being out of the bill. The cost is estimated at $22 billion for doing this, but is likely to be off-set by cuts in other areas. Don't ask me how getting rid of paperwork and reporting costs $22 billion, but it's worth noting I guess. I think you'll likely see more happen with Health Care Reform, not less, in the months and years to come.