Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned over the weekend that America has a choice to make, and could either go in the direction of supporting a Republican plan to overhaul Obamacare or head toward a socialized medicine proposal recently introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
“This is Bernie Sanders’ worst nightmare,” Graham said in an interview on Breitbart News Saturday on SiriusXM, speaking about his healthcare proposal. “It’s either this or we’re going to Obamacare and Berniecare. Now, Berniecare is full-blown single-payer socialism. It is his dream and that’s where Democrats are going.”
Graham introduced a bill alongside GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Dean Heller of Nevada and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin that would transfer the revenue from Obamacare to states in the form of block grants. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has asked the Congressional Budget Office to make a score for the bill a priority, a sign a Senate vote could be coming soon.
Democrats and Sanders introduced a bill the same day as the Obamacare overhaul. The legislation, called the Medicare for All Act, would move everyone into a single-payer, government-run healthcare system, in which everyone would be covered by Medicare rather than private insurance. The bill did not contain information about how the trillions of dollars in new spending would be financed.
Graham argued in his Breitbart interview that his proposal for Obamacare would allow people to have more influence about how their healthcare is run because it would allow them to reach state representatives. Under his plan, states that want a single-payer system could establish one, he said.
“The average person needs to understand, here’s the choice for America: Do you want to consolidate all healthcare decisions in Washington, D.C., and have all the power and money flow through Washington? Do you want to give all the federal politicians and federal bureaucrats complete control of healthcare in America?” Graham asked. “That’s called Berniecare. That’s where we’re headed. Most people, I think, would like federalism.”
He urged voters to call their senators in support of the bill and said President Trump had been calling governors during the weekend to encourage them to back their proposal.
Supporters of the Obamacare overhaul bill hope the bill 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 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.
Cassidy has said the bill is only a vote or two shy of the support it needs to pass. In July, Senate Republicans failed to pass a bill that would have narrowly repealed portions of Obamacare. 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.
It’s unclear whether these senators support the Obamacare overhaul. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has come out publicly against Graham’s bill, and called it “Obamacare Lite.”
