Republicans in the Senate will take their time with the healthcare bill, according to Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) Monday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"My guess is that Leader McConnell (House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell) is going to take some time here, and while he may ultimately pass a bill in the Senate, I think he will send it to conference with the House. That conference will go on a very long time, and we won't actually see a final product until after the '18 elections," Coons said.
Both Republicans and Democrats should team up to work on healthcare, the Delaware Democrat said.
Coons added that he wants to bring in more insurance companies into markets such as his state.
"Small businesses, for example, in Delaware have told me over and over that they can't afford the Affordable Care Act in states like Delaware where there's just not enough competition. We need to work together to find ways to increase competition to keep insurance companies in the market and not drive them out," Coons said.
The Trump administration could speed up the downfall of current insurance marketplaces, he added.
"I'm worried that there are going to be administrative actions by the Trump administration in the coming weeks and months that will drive the existing marketplaces into the death spiral they talk about. They're not currently in a death spiral, but they could be there. So we should come together to propose ways to fix insurance before it becomes a crisis," he said.
McConnell said Saturday that he did not expect Democrats to help with a healthcare bill.