Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) has prepared 120 amendments to Senate Republicans’ health care bill to force the GOP to take wildly unpopular votes if they want to advance their plan to repeal Obamacare.
A Democratic senator shares his 120 amendments for the GOP health bill
Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Merkley’s office shared the amendments with Vox before their release; they can be read in full below.
On their own, Senate Democrats don’t have the votes to stop or even slow down the GOP bill. Their amendments are sure to be rejected by the Republican caucus. Still, Democrats will use that opportunity to get Republicans on record as opposing popular health care provisions.
Merkley’s list of amendments to the bill include:
- A proposal to prevent the Republican health bill’s Medicaid cuts from hurting veterans of the Vietnam War
- A proposal to prevent the Republican health bill’s Medicaid cuts from hurting children with cancer
- A proposal to prevent the Republican health bill from increasing premium costs for people with ovarian cancer
- A proposal to prevent the Republican health bill’s Medicaid cuts from hurting pregnant women
These amendments call for the bill to be sent back to the Finance Committee, which would then be tasked with aligning the amendment with the new bill. This won’t happen because, again, Republicans aren’t going to accept any of these amendments — but it will allow Merkley and other Senate Democrats to get Republicans on the record.
Read Merkley’s amendments in full here:
Merkley Health Care Amendments 3 by Jeffrey Stein on Scribd
Merkley Health Care Amendments 2 by Jeffrey Stein on Scribd
Merkley Health Care Amendments 2 by Jeffrey Stein on Scribd
Merkley 3 by Jeffrey Stein on Scribd
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