Congress is moving in starkly different directions on health care. On the one hand, a plan offered by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy is re-emerging, reviving the specter of Obamacare repeal. The Republican senators will unveil a new version of the bill next week, with the hope of getting a vote by the end of the September. White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway told Fox News that President Trump is ready to sign the bill if Congress passes it. But in a series of Friday morning tweets, the president also exhorted Republicans to get to work on cutting taxes “ASAP,” and some Senate Republicans are downplaying the possibility of another repeal vote by the end of the month, according to Politico.
At the same time, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is looking for ways to stabilize the Obamacare markets for next year. A group of five governors from both parties spoke to the committee Thursday, in the second of four scheduled hearings. The New York Times says the governors “supported immediate action on modest, bipartisan steps to repair the Affordable Care Act without repealing it.”
