Senate Republicans Are Hiding Their Healthcare Bill Because They Know You'll Hate It

The 13 Senate Republicans writing the bill meant to dismantle and replace the Affordable Care Act are almost done, but they aren’t ready to tell anyone what’s in it. Maybe because they know that you will hate it.

“We aren’t stupid,” a senior Republican aide told Axios. “We are still in discussions about what will be in the final product so it is premature to release any draft absent further member conversations and consensus.”

Senate Republicans will not be holding hearings on their mystery bill or opening it up for amendments, either. This was made clear from the outset, but was reiterated last week by Senator Orrin Hatch, Utah’s senior Republican senator and the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

When asked by Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, if there would be hearings on the repeal bill—the stakes of which include millions of people getting priced out of coverage or losing it entirely—Hatch listened patiently while an aide whispered in his ear. Finally, he replied: “Well, I don’t know that there’s going to be another hearing, but we’ve invited you to participate and give your ideas…”

But as McCaskill replied at the time, there has been no such opportunity. Democrats don’t know shit about what’s in this bill, and neither will you if Republicans can help it.

The plan, according to Axios, seems to be to make the legislation public as close to the time of a vote as possible. This means leaving basically no opportunity to fight it. Senate Republicans want to jam through a bill that will remake one-sixth of the American economy, potentially dismantle Medicaid as we know it, and kill people.