The U.S. health care debate is not for the fainthearted. For the second time in less than a decade, Americans have been asking tough questions about proposed big changes in how they get health insurance. Here are seven memorable moments from the debate over whether to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Feb. 10:
A teacher at a town hall meeting of Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) puts her opposition into a religious context.
Feb. 23:
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is roasted as “Flat Rob” in a Cleveland protest.
May 10:
A dad tells Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), “You have been the single greatest threat to my family.”
June 10:
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) complains, “There’s a group of guys in a backroom somewhere that are making these decisions.”
June 22:
Police forcibly remove disabled people protesting proposed Medicaid cuts from outside Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office.
July 6:
Over the July Fourth holiday, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) is one of the few senators to brave an open town hall meeting.
July 17:
Over the course of 2½ hours, the Republicans’ latest attempt to repeal and replace the ACA collapsed — tweet by tweet. Sens. Moran and Mike Lee (R-Utah) simultaneously on Twitter withdrew their support of the bill. The president and McConnell lobbed responses, signaling their intention to pursue repealing the ACA without replacing it.
My colleague @SenMikeLee and I will not support the MTP to this version of BCRA. #HealthcareBill
— Senator Jerry Moran (@JerryMoran) July 18, 2017
My colleague @JerryMoran and I will not support the MTP to this version of BCRA #HealthcareBill
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) July 18, 2017
My statement on an upcoming vote to repeal #Obamacare pic.twitter.com/RdyDiUJfMD
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) July 18, 2017
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2017
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