O’Care fix is waiting for ‘sign’
Mitch: Don must OK
A bipartisan effort to fix ObamaCare could get a vote in the Senate if President Trump makes clear he will sign the legislation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday.
Trump has given mixed signals about whether he supports the new bill by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to stabilize the insurance markets after he said he will pull subsidy payments to insurance companies for providing coverage to low-income Americans.
“I’m waiting to hear from President Trump what kind of health-care bill he might sign,” McConnell told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“If there’s a need for some kind of interim step here to stabilize the market, we need a bill the president will actually sign. And I’m not certain yet what the president is looking for here,” McConnell (pictured) said.
“But I’ll be happy to bring a bill to the floor, if I know President Trump would sign it.”
Trump commended the bipartisan effort one day as a “very good” short-term solution then dismissed it the next day as a “bailout” for insurance companies.
“I think he hasn’t made a final decision,” McConnell said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the bill has the votes to pass if McConnell puts it on the floor this week.
“This is a good compromise,” the New York Democrat said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “It took months to work out. It has a majority. It has 60 senators supporting it — we have all 48 Democrats, 12 Republicans. I would urge Senator McConnell to put it on the floor immediately, this week.”
The bipartisan legislation aims to prevent premium spikes in the individual insurance marketplace.
It’s viewed as an interim way to offer patients relief as Republicans have stumbled in their overall goal to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney, said the president would be willing to sign bipartisan legislation if he gets more in exchange — such as expanding association health plans, the ability to sell insurance across state lines and expanding health savings accounts.
“I think there’s actually a pretty good chance to get a deal,” Mulvaney told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “It’s just, Murray-Alexander in its current form probably isn’t far enough yet.”
In an interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo that aired on Sunday, Trump framed the Murray-Alexander legislation as a stopgap measure.
“This was going to be temporary [measure], prior to repeal and replace,” Trump said.
“We’re going to repeal and replace ObamaCare. And I think we actually have the votes.”