Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that negotiators from both parties are "on the verge" of reaching an agreement to help the Affordable Care Act.
Senate Health Committee chair Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., reportedly made progress on a deal to provide cost-sharing payments to reimburse insurance providers who pay for the cost of low-income customers, a victory for Democrats that would also give more control to governors, as Republicans desire.
"They both informed me they are on the verge of an agreement," Schumer told The Washington Times. "It would be a great start for some bipartisanship in this place."
"We're going to see if it's possible to find some bipartisan consensus that can get a result," Alexander said before his meeting with Murray on Wednesday, according to Politico. "I'm talking to her, I'm talking to Republicans and I'm talking to some Democrats."
"Chairman Alexander and I had been making great progress toward our goals of stabilizing the market and reducing premiums — with many members on and off our committee — until Republican leaders pulled the rug out from under us," Murray said. "Now — the two weeks since our last hearing have been wasted."