Elizabeth Warren knew in advance that John McCain was going to vote no on the “skinny repeal” in the senate late last night, she said during a phone call on Boston Public Radio Friday.
“This first vote is going on and it’s being delayed and all of a sudden I see John McCain walk over and he’s over there with Chuck Schumer and a small [group] of people,” she said. “I said, ‘Something’s going on’ and went over and joined them, and John McCain said that the bill was going to fail, and he said he was going to vote no.”
Warren described the suspense as McCain walked up to vote after spending some time outside the room with Vice President Mike Pence, as she explained she “didn’t know for sure” that he would oppose the legislation.
“He walked back in the room and I just held my breath as I watched him come around that corner, and when he voted no, of course we knew that meant that the Senate would not repeal healthcare for 16 million Americans and drive up costs for millions more,” she said. “It was an amazing moment.”
Warren said she hopes the bill’s failure last night will lead to “a moment of reset” and cited two goals for the future of coverage in the U.S.
“I think the two things we should be trying to accomplish is, we should be looking for better outcomes and lower costs,” she said.
According to Warren, cost is the main reason behind the bill’s failure last night, and the earlier Republican health care bills.
The Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, has repeatedly criticized health care legislation coming from the Republican majority in Congress.
The GOP’s most recent bill would have repealed the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and the employer mandate, would have defunded Planned Parenthood for one year, would have given states the chance to opt out of insurance regulations, and would have repealed the medical device tax for three years.
“The thing about the ‘skinny repeal' last night, was the CBO said it was going to increase the cost of insurance premiums for everyone by 20 percent a year, year after year after year,” she said. “That was not going to make health care better in America.”
Multiple versions of the GOP health care bill have stalled and died in Congress since Trump’s inauguration, but despite the rocky and partisan road to reform, Warren remains optimistic.
“Democracy is changing in this country,” she said. “Note this moment, because this health care debate and this health care vote showed that when people get engaged, when people make phone calls ... when they do those things, their voices do get heard in Washington, and they make real change.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s book is "This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle To Save America's Middle Class." To hear her full interview with Boston Public Radio, click on the audio player above.
