Senate’s ‘Skinny’ ACA Repeal Fails

The Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act came to a halt in the Senate July 28 — with nays from Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) — taking with it an extended moratorium on the device excise tax.

The “skinny repeal” plan represented a stripped-down version of the larger bills that had failed to pass over the past week. The final version of the repeal plan would have postponed the implementation of the medical device excise tax to January 2021. The excise tax is estimated to collect nearly $20 billion by 2026, starting in 2018.

Eyes now turn to the Senate’s reauthorization of the FDA’s user fees. Passed by the House earlier this month, its consideration was pushed until after the ACA repeal measures.