A GOP senator aimed to couch her Obamacare replacement plan as a bipartisan compromise that remains “very Republican.”
Sens. Susan Collins, R- Maine, and Bill Cassidy, R-La., released a unique Obamacare replacement plan that would let states choose to keep the current Obamacare in place, pick a GOP alternative or have nothing. However, conservative lawmakers have been cool to the plan because it would keep Obamacare intact in some parts of the country.
Collins defended the plan recently, telling the Washington Examiner this week that it is a “very Republican approach because it gives power back to the states.”
She added the plan should strike a chord with Democrats, despite opposition from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
“We have tried to come up with a common-sense solution that would bridge the gap between the two parties and avoid a needless disruption in care for millions of people who are relying on the Affordable Care Act,” Collins said. “At the same time, we are recognizing that the Affordable Care Act is broken, that premiums are soaring and that insurers are fleeing the market and reforms are clearly needed.”
Collins said Cassidy has been speaking with Senate leadership on the bill and she hopes to reach out to more colleagues during the GOP retreat in Philadelphia this week.
The bill has three other Republican co-sponsors: Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Johnny Isakson of Georgia.
Graham said the bill ensures that people with pre-existing conditions can get coverage and it “empowers patients by making enrollment easy, encourages price transparency and eliminates burdensome mandates.”
However, not all Republicans are coming on board.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said that the bill could divide the GOP caucus.
“‘If you like Obamcare you can keep it’ is not a ringing cry that Republicans are coming to,” Paul said during a call with reporters Wednesday.
Paul also criticized the state-by-state approach in the plan. He added that if New York or California keeps Obamacare, then residents in states that didn’t keep it would pay for it via federal taxes.
Paul revealed his own Obamacare plan on Wednesday that mirrors several other GOP plans but would expand the tax breaks for employer-based plans to include individuals buying their own insurance.
Collins and Cassidy’s plan hasn’t received much appreciation from Democrats and Obamacare supporters.
Families USA, a pro-Obamacare group, said the bill is “not a true replacement.”
The bill provides “fewer resources to states that are being asked to change healthcare coverage for their residents. It will cause millions to lose their health coverage.”
Schumer also said the plan would cause chaos in insurance markets. Collins later criticized Schumer for bashing the plan before it was released.
Some conservatives also have pushed back against the bill.
“If Republicans are serious about repealing Obamacare, they, you know, actually have to do it,” Jason Pye wrote in a blog post on the conservative advocacy site FreedomWorks. “Introducing a bill that effectively preserves Obamacare does nothing to further this effort.’
Collins said she and Cassidy are open to changes to the legislation.
“Our intent is to put out a specific proposal, knowing that it is likely to be amended or refined,” she said.
However, the time is now to start getting together ideas.
“We have to start putting specific ideas on the table,” Collins said.
