Several Republican senators applauded a new plan to overhaul Obamacare as the leaders of the new plan search for enough support in the divided GOP conference.
The plan officially released Wednesday would convert Obamacare’s funding into block grants for states. Leaders of the plan are in talks with Republicans, who face a smaller margin to approve an Obamacare overhaul this year than in 2017, when a narrow plan fell short of one vote.
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., both praised the nascent effort.
“Using this innovative proposal, we can continue to push for legislation that will lower costs and increase choices,” Graham said Wednesday. “Ultimately, I believe we will have a breakthrough and deliver for the American people.”
Last year, Graham touted a similar plan with Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., which would have converted Obamacare funding into block grants. It fell apart in September because of insufficient GOP support.
Alexander said the proposal contains “many good ideas” that could lower the cost of insurance.
“I’ll read the proposal carefully to see what effect it would have on Tennesseans and taxpayers generally,” he said.
Alexander, who is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, also helmed a bipartisan effort to shore up Obamacare’s efforts, but it collapsed in March because of infighting over abortion funding.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum said at a press conference that the group is in talks with Republican senators to line up support for the replacement this year.
“I wouldn’t have put the time and energy into doing this if we didn’t think we had a really good chance of passing this,” he said.
He added that if Republicans don’t act, they would be on the hook for double-digit premium increases for Obamacare plans.
“We said we would fix it and we didn’t,” he said at the event.
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said Republicans have been promising for years to repeal the law.
“This is simply a function of asking our Congress to stand up to the promises that they made,” he said at the press conference, which also featured remarks from Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant.
But the group faces long odds within the Senate. Santorum said the plan is to use reconciliation, a budget pathway that allows budget legislation to go through the Senate with only 51 votes as opposed to 60 required to break a filibuster.
Republicans have a 51-vote majority, but Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been absent recuperating from treatment for brain cancer. That means that Republicans can lose only one senator as Vice President Mike Pence can break a 50-50 tie.
McCain joined centrist Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine in opposing a narrow Obamacare repeal bill that failed in the Senate last summer. Neither Murkowski nor Collins have said they are open to changing their mind on opposing any Obamacare replacement.
Graham and Cassidy’s effort didn’t even reach the Senate floor last September because of too many GOP defections.
Since September, Republicans have been down one senator with Democratic Sen. Doug Jones’ surprise win in Alabama in December.
Santorum said the group has been talking with the staff of centrist senators and conservative senators who fear a block grant doesn’t go far enough in repealing Obamacare. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for instance, told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that he hasn’t read the plan but remains opposed to a block grant since it keeps too much of Obamacare.
“The folks on either end of the spectrum have been given particular attention for sure,” Santorum told the Washington Examiner.
There is no legislative text for the group’s Obamacare overhaul, although Santorum said that it is in the works. For now, the group is leaving details such as the exact funding formula to the Senate.
It is also leaving out other key details, such as how much money of the block grant must go to a risk mitigation program such as a high-risk pool to help cover expensive medical claims.
Democrats and Obamacare allies have pilloried the plan as another attempt to attack healthcare and gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
Santorum said in the press conference that the bill retains protections for pre-existing conditions. However, he could not say how much of the block grant would go toward risk mitigation programs as that amount is being ironed out.
