Health bill raises the prospect of bipartisanship

McConnell, facing GOP opposition, may turn to Dems

WASHINGTON — With his bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act in deep trouble, Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, raised an alternate possibility on Tuesday evening: Either Republicans come together in the days ahead, or he may have to work with Democrats to shore up the deteriorating health law.

That raised a tantalizing prospect: bipartisanship.

The idea is not that farfetched. For years, Republicans and Democrats have explored avenues for changing or improving former President Barack Obama’s health care law, from modest tweaks like raising the size threshold at which businesses must offer their employees health insurance to larger revisions involving how the marketplaces created under the act operate.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Health Committee, has said he would like to draft legislation geared toward stabilizing the marketplaces and providing a temporary continuation of subsidies paid to insurance companies to offset out-ofpocket medical expenses.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in announcing her opposition to the proposed bill, said she wanted to work with members of both parties to “fix the flaws in” the Affordable Care Act.

But any change to the existing law is likely to require McConnell’s participation — and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s consent.

McConnell had hoped the Senate would pass the repeal bill this week, but he was forced to postpone its consideration after resistance from moderate and conservative members of his caucus. He is now in discussions with Republican senators, seeking agreement on the substance of a revised bill the Senate could take up after returning from a Fourth of July weeklong break.

The Senate Democratic leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, said his party was “genuinely interested” in working with Republicans. On Wednesday, he recalled the daylong gathering in 2010 at Blair House, opposite the White House, when Obama hashed out health care specifics with Republicans.

“President Trump, I challenge you to invite us — all 100 of us, Republican and Democrat — to Blair House to discuss a new bipartisan way forward on health care in front of all the American people,” Schumer said.

“I don’t think he’s serious,” the president said after being told about Schumer’s challenge. “He hasn’t been serious. Obamacare is such a disaster. And he wants to try and save something that’s hurting a lot of people.”