In a move that will surely break outgoing President Obam's heart, Republican Sen. Rand Paul is ready with his bill aimed at replacing the contentious Affordable Care Act or Obamacare.
The senator from Kentucky gave a teaser via a photo he tweeted of the bill titled Obamacare Replacement Act and promised to reveal more details later this Sunday.
Paul tweeted the message: "Coming this week: The Obamacare Replacement bill. Done drafting the bill." The senator also promised to give media interviews to discuss the replacement bill.
Republican lawmakers have made repealing and replacing the signature Obama health care program the first order of business in the 115th Congress. GOP legislators have tried for years to come up with a plan to replace Obamacare, but no plan has been released publicly. This is the best time and chance yet for the replacement bill to finally get going, since Republicans now hold majorities in both the House and the Senate, and with a Republican President set to take over the White House. Repealing the Obamacare was a campaign promise of President-elect Donald Trump who's set to be inaugurated five days from now.
Trump has also actively sought to have the ObamaCare law replaced quickly, echoing Paul's sentiments.
The House on Friday took the first decisive move toward repealing the ObamaCare with a vote along party lines to approve a budget resolution that will pave the way for the law to wind down. Paul voted against the budget resolution, though, arguing that it didn't balance.
Speaker Paul Ryan has announced that Republicans will work on a strategy to replace ObamaCare at a joint House-Senate GOP retreat the week following Trump's Inauguration on January 20.
Obama has fervently appealed for the incoming administration to retain his signature law, at one point even suggesting that Trump could simply rename the law Trump Care from ObamaCare. The Republicans knew better and did not succumb to Obama's bait.
