Republicans pull healthcare bill before vote

The White House pulled its proposed bill to reform the US healthcare system at the last moment despite what some had assumed to be widespread Republican support to revamp Obamacare.

US House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan reportedly pulled the bill at the request of President Trump following a telephone conversation between them.

Friday's set back came despite what some observers described as an all-out effort on the part of Trump himself to win backing from reticent Republicans in Congress.

Paradoxically, during the Obama administration the House of Representatives, which was under the control of the Republicans, voted on several dozens of occassions to roll back Obamacare.

On 14 March, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that by 2026 the Republican plan would leave 24.0m Americans without health coverage.