The opinions of senators regarding the debates on U.S. healthcare reform have split up; as the result, the vote of Michael Pence became decisive.

On Tuesday, July 25, U.S. Senate approved the debates on alternative projects, aimed at replacing the healthcare reform, which was initiated by the former U.S. President Barack Obama.

50 senators voted for the debates, other 50 – against. As the result, the vote of Vice President Michael Pence became decisive, because he supported this initiative, Correspondent.net reports quoting Reuters.

Previously, on July 18, the Republicans could not collect the required number of votes for the draft law, stipulating the preservation of only two provisions of Obamacare.

Then, Mitch Mcconnell acknowledged that “the attempt to cancel and immediately replace” Obamacare will be a failure, and announced that soon the Senate will vote for other draft law, which stipulates the full cancellation of Obamacare with deferment of two years.

Over the course of the healthcare reform, approved by the Congress in 2010, the mandatory medical insurance was introduced from 2014 in the U.S. Thanks to it, the number of U.S. citizens with no medical insurance decreased to the historic minimum – less than 10 percent.

The Republican Party sharply criticized Obamacare from the beginning, considering that the reform was inefficient and costly. In January, new President Donald Trump signed the order on the beginning of the process of Obamacare cancellation.

“I approve the Senate for this huge step, which should put an end to Obamacare. The inaction in this case is not an option”, Trump wrote prior to voting.