A Senate committee has scheduled a hearing Sept. 26 to discuss a Republican effort to overhaul Obamacare just four days before the limit on passing the bill in Congress would expire.
The hearing will be led by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, headed by one of the sponsors of the overhaul, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. Its witnesses have not been announced.
The overhaul effort has been billed by its supporters as part of an effort to reignite GOP efforts to repeal and replace portions of Obamacare after a vote failed in July. With Johnson, it was introduced by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Dean Heller of Nevada, and would transfer the revenue from Obamacare to states in the form of block grants. It also would repeal the individual mandate and employer mandates.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has asked the Congressional Budget Office to make a score for the bill a priority, a sign that a Senate vote could be coming soon.
Cassidy has said the bill is only a vote or two shy of the support it needs to pass. While a handful of senators have come out to support the latest effort publicly, it may not have the backing it needs to cross the finish line.
The Obamacare bill in July that would have narrowly repealed portions of the law fell short by one vote. All Democrats voted against it, as did GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. John McCain, R-Ariz., dealt the fatal blow to the legislation and called for public hearings to discuss ways to improve the healthcare system.
McCain reiterated his position Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
It’s not clear whether the hearing will be adequate to win over McCain’s vote. The Homeland Security Committee does not have jurisdiction over the healthcare reconciliation bill, a role that instead falls to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the Finance Committee.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has come out publicly against Graham’s bill and called it “Obamacare Lite.”
Supporters of the Obamacare overhaul bill hope it can be passed through reconciliation, which would require just 50 votes to advance and pass in the Senate, assuming a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence. Reconciliation is a budget measure that allows a bill to be advanced in the Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes needed to block a filibuster. The Senate faces a Sept. 30 deadline to use reconciliation, according to a recommendation from the Senate parliamentarian.
