Senate Republicans should be "politically horsewhipped" if they don't deliver a plan for healthcare reform to the American people, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Tuesday, while discussing his own idea for a plan he says could succeed.
"The best ideas on the table haven't even been tried," Graham told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program.
"We're not moving on. We're going to listen to President [Donald] Trump; we're going to "git-r-done."
Graham said his idea is quite simple — instead of trying to redo Obamacare in Washington, turn to the nation's governors and let them handle it.
"Take all the money you would spend in Washington on healthcare, block grant it back to the states, and let them design healthcare systems closer to your family," said Graham. "This would empower state choice; it would empower consumers."
Graham said senators will do away with employer and individual mandates, as well as repealing the medical device tax, but take the other taxes and return them in block grants.
"It's about $500 billion," he said, and governors have told him that they will take care of their states better than Washington does.
"We need to keep trying on healthcare," he said. "If we fail on healthcare, we're going to fail on taxes. We have never had a vote on this idea. We should have a new policy called block granting and we should have a new process so people can understand what we are actually doing."
Graham said he has faith that his plan could cross the 50-vote threshold in the Senate.
"I would hate to be a Republican who said to their constituents I don't want more money coming back to my state," said Graham. "Under Obamacare, four states get 40 percent of the money, California, New York, Massachusetts and Maryland. They are 20 percent of the population, they get 40 percent of the money. How do you justify that if you are in West Virginia? Under my plan, West Virginia gets 43 percent more dollars, more money, more flexibility."
Meanwhile, Trump should take insurance subsidies away from members of Congress if they don't deliver on a healthcare plan, said Graham.
"After 33 years in the military, I have healthcare through the military," said Graham. "I will be punished. Punish me in any way you think is appropriate if I can't fix your healthcare. You sent us up here, the American people, to repeal and replace Obamacare. This is the end of single payer healthcare, if you take the money and the power out of Washington."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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