​Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has finally released the text of the "Better Care Reconciliation Act Of 2017," the Senate bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, after weeks of secrecy. Here's what journalists and experts are saying about it.

The Individual Mandate And Continuous Coverage Requirement Are Dead

Unless I'm missing it, there is no continuous coverage requirement in Senate bill and no individual mandate. — Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) June 22, 2017

The bill gets rid of the Affordable Care Act's unpopular requirement that nearly all Americans carry health coverage and or pay a fine. This could cause significant disruption in the individual market because it takes away a key incentive healthy people have to buy coverage, meaning only sick people may sign up.

[Vox]

Insurance Plans Will No Longer Have To Cover Certain Essential Services

Millions of families lose coverage. Those with insurance will get a lot less. Maternity, mental health, cancer treatments, not required.7 — Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) June 22, 2017

Insurers won't cover expensive HIV & cancer meds if they are the only ones. Coverage will devolve. That's the point, not a side effect.8 — Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) June 22, 2017

The bill gives "states the ability to drop many of the benefits required by the Affordable Care Act, like maternity care, emergency services and mental health treatment," according to the New York Times.

Funding For Opioid Addiction Treatment Programs Is Lower Than Moderate Republicans Had Hoped

I see only $2 billion for opioids in Senate health care bill. Right? — Dylan Scott (@dylanlscott) June 22, 2017

Moderate Republican senators Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia had "been pushing for the inclusion of a $45 billion fund to treat and prevent opioid addiction," according to the Washington Post.

It Will Be Much Harder To Get Coverage For Abortion And Reproductive Health Services

The bill not only "defunds Planned Parenthood" by refusing to allow Medicaid to reimburse Planned Parenthood for non-abortion services; it also refuses to allow subsidies to go to private health insurance plans that cover abortions.

Defunding Planned Parenthood and restrictions on subsidies for insurance plans that provide abortions are still in the bill, despite reports pic.twitter.com/zTd318IxSk — Ema O'Connor (@o_ema) June 22, 2017

Planned Parenthood defunding language in the Senate's AHCA draft pic.twitter.com/9RRLgyAzYI — Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) June 22, 2017

Income-Based Caps On Out-Of-Pocket Spending On Premiums Will Now Be Higher And Depend On Age

Affordability will now vary with age, with older people asked to front as much as 16.2% of their income for a high-deductible exchange plan. pic.twitter.com/JRTBClf4Ql — Nicholas Bagley (@nicholas_bagley) June 22, 2017

Right now, the Affordable Care Act counts health insurance as "affordable" if it costs less than 9.7 percent of an individual's income (and a lower amount for lower income Americans)… The Senate bill would raise the amount individuals are expected to kick into their health plans or people who are low to middle income. A 60-year-old who earns $35,640 (300 percent of the poverty line) would be expected to spend 16.2 percent of her income ($5,773) before she gets any help from the government.

[Vox]

Funding For Medicaid Will Get Demolished Over Time

Like their House colleagues, Senate GOPers want to cap the amount of money Washington gives the states each year to pay for each Medicaid patients (currently, there's no limit to how much the feds can spend). Between 2020 and 2024, they would increase that funding each year based on the consumer price index for medical expenditures—which is already expected to grow more slowly than Medicaid already would… In 2025, the bill takes a draconian turn. Instead of using the CPI for medical expenditures, it would use the normal consumer price index—which includes everything from groceries to cell phones to home furnishings. This would amount to a devastating budget cut to Medicaid.

[Slate]

Wealthy Americans And Corporations Will Get A Nice Big Old Tax Cut

Obamacare included tax increases that hit wealthy Americans hardest in order to pay for its coverage expansion. The AHCA would get rid of those taxes. Obamacare was one of the biggest redistributions of wealth from the rich to the poor; the AHCA would reverse that.

[Vox]





The bill would eventually repeal most of Obamacare's taxes, including the surtax on high earners investment income and a Medicare Hospital Insurance surtax on the rich. It would also end some industry taxes, such as those on medical devices and health insurers.



[Politico]

Nancy Pelosi Says The Bill 'Inflicts Great Suffering'

Pelosi: "Trumpcare inflicts great suffering on veterans, seniors, and rural communities. It is a job killer, too." — Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) June 22, 2017

President Trump Is Apparently Not Fully Satisfied With The Current Version Of The Bill

Trump on the Senate health care bill– says it's "going to be negotiated." "A little negotiation, but it's going to be very good." — Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) June 22, 2017

Republican Senators Who Come Out With 'Concerns' About The Bill Might Just Be Posturing

Your regular warning: Be very skeptical of Senators with "concerns" voting no. It could just be a prelude to a deal. — Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) June 22, 2017

The starting point is a brutal, cruel piece of legislation with massively unpopular features. (The public overwhelmingly opposes Medicaid cuts, which are the bill's most pronounced effect.) It will reportedly draw public opposition from at least some holdout Republicans. At that point, the holdouts will be able to wrest relatively small concessions from McConnell.

[New York]

President Obama Slams The Bill: 'Public Service Is Not About Sport Or Notching A Political Win'

Former president Barack Obama has published a lengthy Facebook post slamming the bill and the motives of the Republicans who wrote it.

The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill. It's a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America. It hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by cutting health care for everybody else. Those with private insurance will experience higher premiums and higher deductibles, with lower tax credits to help working families cover the costs, even as their plans might no longer cover pregnancy, mental health care, or expensive prescriptions. Discrimination based on pre-existing conditions could become the norm again. Millions of families will lose coverage entirely. Simply put, if there's a chance you might get sick, get old, or start a family — this bill will do you harm.

[Facebook]

TL;DR

"It's much better than Obamacare," Sen. Purdue. on new health bill. "Why?" we ask. "I have to go read it." — Matt Laslo (@MattLaslo) June 22, 2017

Here's the full text of the bill — all 142 pages of it — if you're up for some dense reading: