After two more Republican senators said they oppose the GOP’s health care bill in its current form, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer renewed his call on Republicans to work with Democrats on fixing Obamacare.
“This second failure of Trumpcare is proof positive that the core of this bill is unworkable,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement Monday night. “Rather than repeating the same failed, partisan process yet again, Republicans should start from scratch and work with Democrats on a bill that lowers premiums, provides long term stability to the markets and improves our health care system.”
Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., jointly announced Monday night that they will oppose a vote to open debate on the Senate GOP’s healthcare bill, meaning Republicans currently do not have the votes to advance the legislation in its current form.
With Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, already coming out against advancing the healthcare bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., no longer has the votes he needs to have least 50 of 52 Republicans onboard.
Top Senate Democrats, including Schumer, have been urging McConnell to work across the aisle to stablize Obamacare’s market, rather than repeal and replacing the bill with only Republican votes, as the GOP’s current strategy dictates.
Earlier this month, McConnell conceded during a Rotary Club meeting in Kentucky that Republicans may have to work with Democrats if they can’t pass their own replacement plan.
“If my side is unable to agree on an adequate replacement, then some kind of action with regard to the private health insurance market must occur,” McConnell said, according to the Associated Press. “No action is not an alternative. We’ve got the insurance markets imploding all over the country, including in this state.”
McConnell’s comments were a departure from prior statements on Obamacare. During his 2014 re-election campaign, the Kentucky Republican pledged to repeal Obamacare “root and branch.”
