Trump's Obamacare victory is symbolic - but is it hollow?

Trump's Obamacare victory is symbolic - but is it hollow?

Trump marked the bill's passage with a speech in the Rose Garden

Donald Trump has finally delivered on that campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. Well, a little bit of it.

That thing he said he would do on day one after taking the oath of office has shifted a little bit closer to reality on day 105.

Cue the champagne in the White House - and the very real chance that Trumpcare will die right here.

There is very little prospect that the American Health Care Act in its current form will be passed by the Senate - even Republicans there have expressed doubts - so only a radical rewrite could save it.

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It has already been a big enough struggle for Republicans in the House of Representatives to get it this far - and for one very simple reason.


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According to the polls, the bill is hugely unpopular with the American public at a time when an increasing number of people, even if they hated President Obama, are quite fond of Obamacare.

The existing system has massive and growing problems, no-one questions that, but the Republican replacement has not filled the American people with joy.

In particular, they are alarmed by the ability it gives to insurance companies to ramp up premiums for people with pre-existing conditions.

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Groups representing doctors, hospitals, patients and the elderly have expressed strong concerns about what the bill would mean for the health of the nation.

It also erases tax increases on America's highest earners and the healthcare industry, which were put in place under Obamacare.

Cutting taxes for the rich while cutting healthcare for the working class is a message we can expect to hear a lot from Democrats in the months to come.

When the last version of the bill was up for consideration in March - before Republicans pulled it fearing failure - members of the public flooded their representatives with phone calls of opposition.

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That version, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would have seen 24 million Americans lose healthcare cover over the next decade. The office has not been able to "score" this latest version.

No-one believes things will have improved drastically for the most vulnerable of Americans.

This has been a symbolic victory for Trump and Republicans on Capitol Hill but it may turn out to be a hollow one.

The fight over Obamacare is not over yet.