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First attempt at repealing Obamacare fails

President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) withdrew the American Health Care Act (AHCA) before a scheduled vote in the House of Representatives on Friday. The GOP leadership’s bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act—also known as Obamacare—was expected to lose handily in the House. Polls showed that only 17 percent of Americans supported it, and a massive wave of constituent opposition convinced the Republicans to suspend, at least for now, efforts to repeal the landmark 2010 health care reform law.

The controversial AHCA, introduced just three weeks ago without any public hearings or bipartisan support, would have eliminated insurance coverage for 24 million Americans and deregulated the private insurance market. It would have also raised deductibles and increased insurance premiums dramatically—including those paid by letter carriers—by shifting the cost of health care for the uninsured to those with insurance.

NALC President Fredric Rolando issued the following statement:

“This is good news for millions of working families. Thanks to all the NALC activists who answered the call to weigh in with their members of Congress to oppose this destructive bill. Let us hope that, after seven long years of partisan warfare over our health care system, the two parties can finally start working together to fix the problems with the Affordable Care Act without throwing away the progress we’ve made since 2010.”