WASHINGTON -- Backers of a bipartisan bill that would preserve subsidies for low-income Americans under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act introduced it Thursday with two-dozen co-sponsors, while President Donald Trump continued to equivocate on whether he backed the measure.
The legislation, which would authorize payments to insurers that help offset out-of-pocket health costs in exchange for giving states greater latitude to regulate coverage, has the backing of 12 Republican and 12 Democratic senators.
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and ranking Democratic member Patty Murray of Washington state, who forged the agreement Wednesday, argued on the floor that it would provide stability to the individual insurance market while Congress debated whether to overhaul the 2010 health care law.
Many conservative Republicans, including congressional leaders, have expressed skepticism about the prospect of passing legislation that would roll back the Affordable Care Act in a meaningful way. While the bill does make it easier for states to obtain federal waivers to change the way their markets operate and allows Affordable Care Act consumers ages 30 and older to buy catastrophic health plans, it preserves the law's core mandates.
Speaking on the floor Wednesday, Alexander said those conservatives were ignoring the "chaos" that could ensue if the federal government did not provide the cost-sharing reduction payments that Trump cut off this month.
"What's conservative about unaffordable premiums?" he asked.
Even as Alexander and Murray announced their sponsors -- which included conservatives and liberals, as well as centrists from both parties -- a top Republican argued that the plan had to undergo changes and win the clear support of Trump before it could succeed.
"It takes the president's support, would be the first thing it would take," said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas. "I know they've got bipartisan co-sponsors. Sen. Alexander is a very methodical, very thoughtful guy. He understands that there are going to need to be changes ... before [the bill is] going to get a critical mass of support."
Trump called Alexander twice Wednesday, the senator said, and each time encouraged him to continue working on a deal.
The president told reporters Thursday that while he prefers providing federal health funding in block grants to states, he is open to a different approach that would run for a finite period.
"There will be a transition period, so anything they're working on will be short-term," Trump said, referring to Alexander and Murray. "It'll be absolutely short-term because, ultimately, we will be -- it's going to be repeal and replace."
The president has repeatedly decried the idea of paying money to insurers, which is the way cost-sharing payments are distributed.
"So, I have great respect, as you know, for both of the senators that you mentioned, and if they can come up with a short-term solution ... " he said, without finishing the sentence. "What I did say though is, I don't want the insurance companies making any more money ... than they have to."
The additional sponsors include Republicans Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John McCain of Arizona, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Richard Burr of North Carolina and Bob Corker of Tennessee.
The Democrats are Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Al Franken of Minnesota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Thomas Carper of Delaware, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. Also included is Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.
In Arkansas, Republican Sen. John Boozman said Thursday that he's still studying the Alexander-Murray proposal.
"We're looking at it, but I haven't made a decision," he said, predicting that the bill would likely evolve before it is brought up for a vote. He said it was "still pretty sketchy."
A spokesman for Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said Thursday that he is still reviewing the legislation.
On Tuesday, Cotton said, "Sen. Alexander only just mentioned briefly at our weekly Republican luncheon today that they were close to an agreement, so I haven't reviewed the details of it."
A broad coalition of health groups, including the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, have endorsed the bill, along with a bipartisan coalition of 10 governors.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to put the compromise package "on the floor without delay. If he does, it is virtually certain that it would pass."
Information for this article was contributed by John Wagner of The Washington Post and by Frank E. Lockwood of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 10/20/2017