Scott's promise to fight for Obamacare repeal stalls

Gov. Rick Scott's promise to fight for repeal of the Affordable Care Act has hit a roadblock after the Senate failed to pass any legislation to repeal the law or replace it.

In the early morning of July 28, Republicans failed to muster enough votes to repeal former President Barack Obama's signature legislation. Three Republicans sided with the Democrats, leading to the defeat of repeal: John McCain of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Scott, a Republican and former health care company president, vowed during his first campaign in 2010 to fight to repeal the federal law. We have been tracking his progress on our Scott-O-Meter, which tracks dozens of Scott's campaign promises.

Scott's promise stalled during Obama's tenure but the election of Trump, a Scott ally, gave the pledge new potential.

Scott has met with Trump and members of his administration multiple times urging repeal of the law, prompting us to move up his promise to In the Works.

Scott, who is considering a bid against U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2018, has often been vague when pressed to answer if he would vote for certain versions of the GOP health care proposals.

In an op-ed July 14, Scott reiterated his plea to repeal Obamacare but called on some changes related to how the federal government gives states money for Medicaid.

"While a new bill has been introduced this week, it has taken far too long to get rid of the disaster of Obamacare, and I fear the politicians in Washington will never find common ground on this critical topic," he wrote. "There is absolutely no question that Obamacare must be repealed immediately so Americans can actually afford to purchase health insurance."

Repeal of Obamacare is not entirely dead, although the path ahead appears uncertain. Trump has signaled he isn't ready to walk away from his promise to repeal Obamacare.

It is unclear when or if the Senate will be able to muster enough votes to repeal Obamacare or take any other significant steps related to the health care law. Scott has about a year and a half to continue to advocate for repeal until his term as governor expires in January 2019.

For that reason, we're moving our rating of Scott's promise to fight for repeal of Obamacare to Stalled.