Senate Republicans near votes to replace Obamacare with state block grants
By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times - Sunday, September 17, 2017

Senate Republicans pushing to replace Obamacare with state block grants are making real noise before their window to act closes, insisting they are just one or two votes shy and that President Trump can nudge their last-gasp bill to victory.

“We are thinking that we can get this done by Sept. 30,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who co-wrote the bill with Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Friday.

Republican leadership seemed to greet the bill with a shrug when it was introduced last week, yet Mr. Cassidy said the idea “took off” during a Thursday luncheon that focused on health care.

The senator said his informal whip count stands at “48 or 49” Republican votes — close to the 50-vote threshold needed to pass a bill, using Vice President Mike Pence as a tie-breaker.

Senior Democrats, meanwhile, are rallying Obamacare’s defenders to stamp out a revived threat to their signature law.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, issued a “red alert” on Twitter over the weekend.

“Trumpcare is back & Senate GOP has until Sept 30 to pass their bill,” he wrote. “We need your voices more than ever!”

Under the plan, Obamacare money that pays for an expansion of Medicaid and that subsidizes coverage for many of those who buy insurance on the exchanges would be pooled and instead given to states as block grants. The states would tailor the money to their own health care plans.

The bill would immediately repeal Obamacare’s individual mandate requiring people to get coverage or pay a tax and its rule requiring large employers to provide coverage or face crippling penalties. It also scraps the 2010 law’s tax on medical device sales.

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Mr. Paul said he doesn’t support the bill because it leaves 90 percent of Obamacare in place, including many of its taxes and coverage rules. He said it amounts to “Obamacare lite.”

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017...ck-grants-rall/


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