Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted to open debate on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with 50 senators voting in favor of what’s called a motion to proceed, or MTP, opening the door to the chamber offering numerous amendments to craft some sort of repeal bill. The first option put forward—the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA)—failed to pass as expected.

Ohio passed a law requiring “good faith” estimates from providers to patients on the cost of elective procedures two years ago, but opposition from the state’s hospital and physician groups has keep the law from being implemented.

Senate Republican leaders are pushing for a July 25 vote on some form of legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but haven’t decided on what will be in the bill.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released reports on two Republican proposals regarding the Affordable Care Act: One which would repeal much of the law while delaying some of those effects for two years and another which replaces it with the Senate's Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA).

Enrollment in the individual market would increase while premiums would decrease under Sen. Ted Cruz’s, R-Texas, controversial “Consumer Freedom” amendment, according to an HHS analysis obtained by the Washington Examiner.

Senate Republicans' latest Affordable Care Act replacement plan was introduced on July 13. Four days later, it was declared dead, as four Republican senators had publicly announced they wouldn’t support even holding a vote on the legislation.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, believes opponents of the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) can use a delay in considering the bill to convince undecided Republicans to block it, particularly now that health insurers have come out strongly against the legislation.

Whenever Republicans in the House or Senate have released a new version of an Affordable Care Act (ACA) replacement plan in 2017, healthcare industry reaction has been almost uniformly negative. The same can largely be said for the newest version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), with the notable exception of the American Medical Association (AMA) when it comes to two provisions.