Lankford, Inhofe both "deeply disappointed" in failed health care vote

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KOKH) — Republicans took another big blow in their quest for health care reform early Friday morning.

The Senate voted down a a measure to repeal parts of former President Barack Obama's health care law. Republicans fell a single vote short, Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and John McCain casting "no" votes.

"I'm deeply disappointed that theSenate was unable to repeal and replace Obamacare," said Oklahoma Senator James Lankford in a statement following the vote. "For years, I and my staff have worked to develop solutions to our national healthcare crisis. After months of work and debate, we were one vote short."

Not passing the so-called "skinny repeal" is seen as a devastating blow to the GOP and President Donald Trump, who have promised a repeal of Obamacare for the last seven years.

Sen. Lankford says one of his biggest concerns is that insurance rates in the state and nation will continue to rise.

"In Oklahoma, the tax penalties of Obamacare mostly fall on people who make less than $50,000 a year," said Sen. Lankford. "I will continue to work to get relief for all Oklahoma families who daily deal with the consequences of Obamacare. While some have benefited from the subsidies of Obamacare, it is clear that an equal number have also been harmed from the law. We should not stop working to find solutions to a law that has caused so much damage to our economy and our healthcare delivery system.”

Oklahoma is one of five states in the U.S. to only have one insurer on the exchange in 2017. The other states are South Carolina, Alaska, Alabama and Wyoming.

Senator Lankford also spoke on the Senate floor just a few hours prior to the Friday morning vote, saying "this is not a final bill that's coming out. This is still an interim process that's moving. But we need to be able to keep this process moving."

Sen. Jim Inhofe released a statement later Friday morning echoing Lankford's comments.

“While I am proud I voted numerous times this week to repeal Obamacare and provide relief for suffering Oklahomans, I am deeply disappointed the effort came up short," said Inhofe. "I remain committed to working with my colleagues on the best path forward to repeal Obamacare and fix our broken health care system.”