“For some of us it’s life or death,” said Dobbs, 42, a Medi-Cal patient who goes to Cares Community Health clinic in Sacramento. “Some of us really will possibly pass because of this bill. It’s just the truth.”

After weeks of working in secret, and just days before Congress goes on summer recess, Senate Republican leaders have revealed the “Better Care Reconciliation Act,” their plan to dismantle the health reform law.

The bill would phase down the Medicaid expansion from 2020 to 2024, somewhat more slowly than the House bill does. But it would still end eventually. The Senate bill also departs from the House bill’s flat tax credits to help pay for insurance, which would have added thousands of dollars to the premiums of poorer and older people not yet eligible for Medicare.

(Español) “El proyecto de ley, redactado en secreto, es probable que sea presentado en el Senado hoy, y podría llegar a una votación después de 20 horas de debate”, y no de 50 horas, como originalmente se había estimado.