The Republican-led Senate kicked off a vote-a-rama on June 30 after it voted 51-49 in a procedural vote on June 28 to advance the President Donald Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The revised 940-page version of the bill was introduced on June 27 and comprises significant reforms to Medicare, Medicaid and healthcare-related tax provisions.
A vote-a-rama occurs after debate time for a budget resolution or reconciliation bill expires, at which time senators can then “introduce an unlimited number of amendments, and each is voted on in succession,” according to the Senate’s website.
The Senate could hold up to 20 hours of debate. Democrats are expected to use their allotted 10 hours while Republicans are not, ABC News reported June 30. Should the vote pass in the Senate, it will go back to the House to consider the Senate’s edits to the bill, the publication reported.
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who shared plans on June 29 to retire, and Rand Paul of Kentucky joined all Democrats in the procedural vote opposing the bill. Democratic Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York also forced a “start to finish” reading of the 940-page bill on June 28, according to a June 28 X post.
The news comes after the Senate Finance Committee released its draft of the budget reconciliation bill on June 16 after the House passed the bill on May 22 in a 215-214 vote. On June 26, The Wall Street Journal reported Republicans also faced a setback after the Senate parliamentarian found that proposed changes to how states tax Medicaid providers violated rules for passing the legislation with a simple majority.
The legislation has also continued to receive pushback from multiple healthcare organizations. American Hospital Association President and CEO Rick Pollack said the Senate bill was “substantially worse than its House counterpart” in a June 28 statement shared with Becker’s.
In a June 29 letter to senators, Mr. Pollack also stressed that the bill would result in millions of Americans being displaced from insured to uninsured status due to its Medicaid policy changes, along with those that impact the health insurance marketplace. He welcomed the opportunity for lawmakers to work with the AHA to rework the legislation.
“This loss of coverage will result in additional uncompensated care for hospitals and health systems, which will affect their ability to serve all patients,” Mr. Pollack said. “There will be service line reductions and staff reductions, resulting in longer waiting times in emergency departments and for other essential services, and could ultimately lead to facility closures, especially in rural and underserved areas.”
The Federation of American Hospitals’ president and CEO, Chip Kahn, said in a June 28 statement shared with Becker’s that the cuts to Medicaid in the bill would “deliver a devastating blow to rural communities and will decimate care for millions of Americans.”
He also urged senators to stand up against the bill.
“The cuts will pull Americans’ federal tax dollars from communities across the nation, slashing funding for patient care and causing a domino effect — that will increase costs and reduce hospital access for families with private insurance, seniors on Medicare, and vulnerable kids and adults alike.”
