Latest GOP Obamacare Effort Likely Dead as Third Key Republican Announces No-vote

This story is developing.WASHINGTON -- The latest GOP effort to gut Obamacare suffered two near-fatal blows on Monday as a third Republican senator announced opposition and a new report estimates “millions” of people would become uninsured under the plan.Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who helped sink her party’s skinny repeal effort in July, said she will oppose the measure brought by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy that would dramatically restructure and reduce Medicaid spending and allow states to opt out of key Affordable Care Act provisions.Meanwhile, a preliminary analysis released by the Congressional Budget Office late Monday indicates that, if enacted, “millions of additional people would be uninsured” compared to current law.Collins joins Republican Sens. John McCain, of Arizona, and Kentucky’s Rand Paul, who have already announced their opposition to the bill. The GOP can only afford to lose two votes or the effort fails.On Monday, some GOP leaders acknowledged the effort was all but dead.“We don’t have the support for it,” Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told reporters, according to the Associated Press.Republicans, facing a Sept. 30th deadline to pass the overhaul with just 50 votes, were preparing for a vote despite a comprehensive analysis of the bill’s effects. On Monday, the CBO said it would “need at least several weeks to provide point estimates of the effects on the deficit, health insurance coverage, and premiums.”  Continue reading...