GOP postpones vote on Graham-Cassidy bill, leaving fate of ACA repeal effort uncertain

With the Graham-Cassidy bill facing no viable path forward, Senate Republicans decided Tuesday to abandon their most recent effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

“Through events that are under our control and not under our control, we don’t have the votes,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said at a news conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. After speaking to Senate leadership and President Donald Trump, he added, “we’ve made the decision since we don’t have the votes to postpone that vote.”

But Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a co-sponsor of the bill, pledged that Republicans would not give up on the measure entirely.

“With a process that gives more attention and time, we will repeal and replace Obamacare with a block grant called Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson,” he said.

Republicans had originally planned to vote on the measure this week, but after at least three GOP senators—Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and John McCain of Arizona—indicated they’d vote against it, the party was once again left without enough votes to pass an ACA repeal bill with a simple majority. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas also said earlier this week that he wasn’t yet ready to support the measure.

Check back with FierceHealthcare for more on this developing story.