The American Health Care Act (AHCA) was pulled minutes before the U.S. House of Representatives was set to vote on March 24. If passed, the bill would have eliminated the requirement for insurance companies to provide 10 essential benefits, including pediatric dental coverage.
After the bill did not garner enough support from lawmakers, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) pulled the AHCA bill, resulting in boos from Democrats on the House floor who wanted to put the bill to a vote. In a press conference on March 24, Ryan said he consulted with President Donald Trump before pulling the bill, believing that the wisest thing to do was to not proceed with the vote.
"We came really close today, but we came up short," Ryan said. "This is a disappointing day for us. Doing big things is hard. All of us, myself included, we will need time to reflect on how we got to this moment, and what we could've done better."
The future of dental health policy
After promising to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) or "Obamacare," the Republican Party introduced its own healthcare bill, the Affordable Health Care Act. In addition to removing the requirement that insurance plans must include pediatric dental coverage, the bill would have also cut Medicaid funds to states and not required insurance plans to cover prescription drugs.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the AHCA would reduce the federal deficit by $337 billion over 10 years but also leave 24 million people without insurance. A March 23 poll from Quinnipiac University showed that only 17% of U.S. voters supported the new bill.
At least for the foreseeable future, the ACA will remain the law of the land, Ryan said. However, he cautioned that the healthcare law is flawed and will ultimately fail.
"We're going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future. I don't know how long it's going to take us to replace this law," he said. "My worry is that Obamacare is going to be getting even worse."
In a comment to the Washington Post, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), DDS, one of the Republicans who was against the bill, said that he wants to do healthcare right.
"You know what? I came here to do healthcare right," he said. "This is one chance that we can get one-sixth of our [gross domestic product] done right. It starts with here."
Dr. Gosar is also the sponsor of a bill that would apply federal antitrust laws to health insurance companies. His bill, HR 372, overwhelmingly passed the House on March 22, and is now in the Senate.
Democrats respond
In a press conference after the AHCA bill was pulled from the House floor, the Democratic Party had a unified message: The decision to pull the bill was a victory for the American people. The party cited a swell of ground support from constituents as one of the reasons the bill was defeated.
"It's not just about the 24 million people who now won't be off of health insurance," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). "It's about the 155 million people who receive their health benefits in the workplace and who will not be assaulted by some of the provisions the Republicans put in the bill."
The Democrats also said the party is willing to work with Republicans to make needed, bipartisan changes to the ACA. For instance, Rep. Pelosi suggested allowing Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), MD, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.
"We always stand open," she said. "We have a responsibility to find common ground."
