Duelling health-care bills in U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON — Senators on Wednesday rolled out competing plans for the nation’s health-care system, with a group of GOP senators making a last, long-shot effort to undo formerU.S.presidentBarackObama’s Affordable Care Act and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders proposing universal government-run coverage.

Despite opposition and little time, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., proposed legislation that would do away with many of the subsidies and mandates of the 2010 law and instead would provide block grants to the states to help individuals pay for health coverage.

“If you believe repealing and replacing Obamacare is a good idea, this is your best and only chance to make it happen because everything else has failed except this approach,” Graham told reporters.

The senators said that some states would get more money to provide health care than they get through the current system. They are modeling their effort after the welfare reform legislation passed under former president Bill Clinton in the 1990s. They said states are better equipped than Washington to determine how best to meet the needs of their residents.

They also acknowledged they have an uphill battle to get the bill passed before Oct. 1 when the GOP effort to repeal the law loses its protection against Democratic filibusters.

“To my Republican colleagues, don’t let the health-care debate die. Don’t leave the field with your tail between your legs. Keep fighting,” Graham said.

U.S. President Donald Trump lauded the senators’ effort, but it was unclear how much energy the White House was actually putting into the health-care drive with GOP attention shifting to a tax overhaul.

“Inaction is not an option, and I sincerely hope that Senators Graham and Cassidy have found a way to address the Obamacare crisis,” Trump said.

The White House issued the statement after Graham used the news conference to urge Trump to “pick up the phone” and round up support from governors.

“Tell them this matters to you, that you weren’t kidding about repealing and replacing Obamacare, that you actually meant it,” Graham said. “So Mr. President, help us because we’re trying to help you.”

Sanders, the Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, was unveiling legislation that would allow Americans to get health coverage simply by showing a new government-issued card. Consumers also would no longer owe out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles.

But Sanders’ description of his measure omitted specifics about how much it would cost and final decisions about how he would pay for it.

In an interview, Sanders said Tuesday his measure would likely be paid for in a “progressive way.” Aides said it would likely be financed by incomeadjusted premiums people would pay the government, ranging from no premiums for the poorest Americans to high levies on the rich and corporations.

The measure has no chance of becoming law with Trump in the White House and Republicans controlling Congress. But it embodies a push to universal coverage that eluded Obama’s 2010 law and is a tenet of the Democratic Party’s liberal, activist base.

“I think in a democracy, we should be doing what the American people want,” Sanders said, citing polls showing growing support for the concept.