Senate Republicans plan to release draft healthcare bill on Thursday

A draft verison of the Senate's iteration of the American Health Care Act will be released on Thursday, according to Politico. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, appears to be sticking to his guns by moving towards a vote on the healthcare bill before the July 4 recess.

This draft bill will include some or all of the state waivers present in the house bill, allowing individual states to opt out of certain Affordable Care Act regulations including coverage of pre-existing conditions and essential health benefits. However, some of these waivers may violate Senate budget rules for being too healthcare-specific, according to Axios.

If Senate Republicans want to pass the bill with only 50 votes they will need to strip those waivers from the bill. It’s unclear how Senate Republicans would move forward or change the bill in response, but a nationwide requirement that states cover essential health benefits is good news for radiology.

Essential health benefits guarantee low-cost preventative screening for breast cancer and colon cancer. Mammography saw sizable increases in utilization, especially among the poorest Americans, demonstrating the ground-level impact of low copays.

Either way, on Thursday we should find out what the Senate Republicans have been writing behind closed doors—follow the link below to learn about the next steps in the process.