Failure on health bill also hurts prospects for tax overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans' failure to repeal Barack Obama's health care law deals a serious blow to another big part of President Donald Trump's agenda: tax reform.

Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., say they will soon turn their attention to the first major re-write of the tax code in more than 30 years. But they will have to do it without the momentum of victory on health care.

Just as important, the loss on health care will deprive Republicans of $1 trillion in tax cuts.

The GOP health plan would have repealed nearly $1 trillion in taxes enacted under Obama's Affordable Care Act. The bill coupled the tax cuts with spending cuts for Medicaid, so it wouldn't add to the budget deficit.

Without the spending cuts, it will be much harder for Republicans to cut taxes without adding to the federal government's red ink.

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Many governors welcome demise of GOP health care bill

CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) - Governors of both parties had warned Congress for weeks that the Republican health care bill threatened to saddle their states with big costs and potentially leave millions of people without coverage, especially because of the cutbacks planned to Medicaid.

The bill's withdrawal on Friday left in place the status quo under the Affordable Care Act. That was welcomed by several governors in the states that opted to expand Medicaid under former President Barack Obama's law.

The Medicaid expansion has provided coverage for 11 million people in the 31 states that accepted it.

"I am pleased today's vote has been held as this bill would drastically affect the Commonwealth's ability to ensure essential care for thousands of people," Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican in a Democratic-leaning state, said in a statement after the bill was pulled from consideration. "This version does not reflect the needs of states and does not contain many critical aspects of health care reform that our administration has communicated to the federal government."

Jerry Brown, California's Democratic governor, was fiery when he spoke in Washington, D.C., earlier in the week, calling the Republican measure "a dangerous bill.

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