US: Senate Republicans unveil revised health care bill

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK

Senate Republican leaders unveiled revisions to their health care bill Thursday, in an attempt to win additional votes to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare

The changes seek to lower insurance costs for consumers by providing new funding over the next seven years for individuals who keep Obamacare.

The new bill includes an additional $70 billion, on top of the original $112 billion, to decrease insurance premiums, and scraps previous plans to repeal Obamacare taxes on wealthy Americans.

Despite the revisions, Republican Senators Susan Collins and Rand Paul were not satisfied with the new bill and expressed concerns.

"Ready to work w/ GOP & Dem colleagues to fix flaws in ACA," Sen. Collins wrote on Twitter, adding she would vote “No”.

Sen. Paul wrote on Twitter, “Meet the new bill, same as the old bill (but with fewer tax cuts, more and a bigger bailout).”

Republicans need at least 50 votes for the bill to pass the Senate where they cannot afford to lose any additional votes to Collins and Paul.