Politics: LIVE: The Senate has a new version of their healthcare bill as Obamacare repeal debate rolls on

The Senate bill is heading into 20 hours of debate. Here's what to expect.

The Senate voted on Tuesday to open debate on their plan to overhaul the US healthcare system.

Exactly which healthcare bill they'll be voting on is still very much up in the air.

Among the options are the Senate's plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the law better known as Obamacare and a plan to strictly repeal Obamacare. There's also the chance of a "skinny repeal" bill, which would repeal certain aspects of the ACA and, if passed, lead to the House and Senate working together to compromise on one final bill.

Now that the motion to proceed has passed, here's a rough outline of how the process after the motion to proceed passes.

• We're now headed into 20 hours of debate in legislative time. That's split equally between Democrats and Republicans.
• The first amendment to be voted on is likely to be the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act to satisfy Paul and other conservatives. This plan is likely to be shot down by moderates.
• The first amendment to be offered procedurally — but the second to be voted on, the news website Axios reported — would be the Better Care Reconciliation Act, which was last updated on Thursday. Again, Republicans can afford only two defections.
• According to reports, there is an agreement between Sen. Rob Portman, a more moderate holdout, and Sen. Ted Cruz, a conservative, on an amendment that would keep the structure of the BCRA but allow insurers to sell non-Obamacare-compliant policies and throw in $100 billion to the state stabilization fund. But since that would require 60 votes to pass, and it has not been scored by the Congressional Budget Office, it is almost certainly doomed, since there are only 52 Republicans in the Senate.
• There could then be a series of amendments to the House bill, including those from Democrats. Additionally, other healthcare legislation could be slotted in for a vote.
• Finally, McConnell will try to push the Senate to pass a bundle of smaller amendments focused on repealing aspects of Obamacare like the individual mandate and medical-device tax. After this, the House and the Senate would flesh out a full replacement bill in a conference committee.

We'll be updating this post as the debate continues.

8:30 p.m. - The Senate has another version of its repeal and replace bill.

The Senate will be voting on this version of the BCRA, which includes the Cruz amendment, titled the "Consumer Freedom Amendment." Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon nicknamed this version "Trumpcare 3.0." Currently the bill is up for debate.

The amendment would have allowed plans to exist that don't comply with two regulations set up under the Affordable Care Act: community rating and essential health benefits. The latter could have had a big impact on people with pre-existing conditions.

The bill includes an amendment from Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, which sets up $100 billion in new funding to stabilize states. It does this by increasing funding from $19.2 billion a year to $30.2 billion. Portman has expressed concerns about the BCRA before for not providing enough funding for Medicaid tackling the opioid crisis.

It also makes some changes to a section that would have made out-of-pocket maximums technically higher than what's allowed by the law.

This version of the bill would need 60 votes to pass.

6:40 p.m. — The Senate is expected to vote on a repeal/replace plan at 8 p.m. — but it likely won't pass.

The Senate clerk is still reading through the BCRA, but there's already talk of a first vote on a modified repeal and replace plan coming at 8 p.m.

Politico's Jennifer Haberkorn reports that the vote won't likely be successful.

5:50 p.m. - Democrats have asked Senate clerks to read through the BCRA.

The most recent draft of this bill is 164 pages long.

The latest draft of this bill includes more funds to tackle the opioid crisis, and a change to allow people to pay for premiums using health savings accounts. The bill also still includes deep cuts to Medicaid, with an estimated $756 billion cuts by 2026 according to the Congressional Budget Office.

But notably absent is an amendment from Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee that critics said could make plans with adequate coverage unaffordable to those who have certain medical conditions.

According to the CBO, the bill, without the Cruz amendment, would leave 22 million more Americans without insurance by 2026 compared with the current law, in line with their estimates for the original bill.

5:30 p.m. - Democrats kick of the debate period.

Senators Bill Nelson of Florida, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Brian Schatz of Hawaii got the debate on the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon. Brown, using presentation boards, gave a impassioned speech that involved pointing in the direction of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office and mentioning Wall Street and pharmaceutical company lobbyists that have been around McConnell's office.

Brown also expressed his concerns about the healthcare bills' approach to the opioid epidemic. A revised version of the BCRA allocated $45 billion for the public health issue. Though encouraging, experts say the extra funding's impact will be limited due to the bill's massive cuts to Medicaid, the government-run health program that provides insurance primarily to pregnant women, single parents, people with disabilities, and seniors with low incomes.

3:40 p.m. - Trump calls out Republican senators who voted against the motion to proceed.

"We had two Republicans that went against us, which is very sad, I think, very very said, for them," Trump said in a press conference. "But I'm very, very happy with the result."

3:30 p.m. - Senate starts by reading the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act (repeal-only bill)

The Senate is currently reading through the ORRA, the straight repeal bill. It is nearly identical to the bill that was vetoed by President Barack Obama in 2015. The bill would repeal all the provisions put in place by the ACA, including key taxes, the Medicaid expansion some states opted into and getting rid of mandates for employers and individuals to provide and have insurance.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, 17 million fewer Americans would have health insurance in 2018, a number that would grow to 32 million by 2026. By 2026, health insurance premiums are expected to double. Cuts to Medicaid would hit $842 billion by 2026.

Protesters in the Senate gallery briefly interrupted the reading of the ORRA.

3:15 p.m. - Senator John McCain returns to vote on the motion.

McCain, who is recovering from brain surgery, was recently diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. McCain said in his speech that he will not vote for the bill as it is today. He pushed for the bill to have input from both parties.

"What do we have to lose to try and work together to find those solutions?" McCain said in a speech Tuesday.

McCain said he'll stay in DC for a few days before returning to Arizona for treatment.

3 p.m. - Senate voted to open debate on the bill.

A procedural vote to begin debate on the House's healthcare bill passed Tuesday afternoon by narrow by a count of 51-50, with Vice President Mike Pence serving as the tiebreaking vote.

Every Democrat voted against the motion, along with Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.

The Senate bill is heading into 20 hours of debate. Here's what to expect. Read Full Story