Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy said Thursday that they met with President Donald Trump on their plan to repeal Obamacare — saying that despite the current focus on tax reform, "the debate about healthcare reform will continue."
"We greatly appreciate President Trump taking time to discuss the many problems facing Obamacare and how we can replace it with state-tailored healthcare reform that lowers costs and improves coverage for millions of Americans," Graham, of South Carolina, and Cassidy, who represents Louisiana, said in statement.
"President Trump remains committed to repealing and replacing Obamacare," they said. "He also strongly supports the principles brought forward in Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson."
"While President Trump, and both of us, are moving to focus on tax cuts, the debate about health care reform will continue."
Graham and Cassidy sponsored legislation, also backed by Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada and Wisconsin's Ron Johnson, that would have ended basic elements of the Affordable Care Act.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky pulled a possible vote on the bill this week after a third Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, came out against it.
She joined Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Rand Paul, also of Kentucky, in their opposition.
With a slim 52-49 majority, Republicans could not have afforded to lose more than two votes before a Sept. 30 procedural deadline that established a subsequent 60-vote threshold.
"Over the coming weeks and months, we are committed to holding congressional hearings and working with our nations' governors who believe returning power to states is a vast improvement over Obamacare," Graham and Cassidy said.
"We are also very appreciative that the president has fully committed his administration to continue working with us so we can pass GCHJ.
"With the president and Vice President [Mike Pence]'s continued leadership and involvement, we believe it is just a matter of time until Obamacare is replaced by a state-centric system closer to patients and more focused on positive healthcare outcomes."
The senators said that Trump told them that he was "willing to work with Democrats to see if we can find bipartisan, common ground — and we strongly encouraged the president to do so.
"But like us, he shares concerns about simply throwing good money after bad in propping up a structurally unsound Obamacare system, which will eventually collapse.
"It's time we adopt solutions to America's health care problems that are sustainable and will produce better outcomes than Obamacare," Graham and Cassidy said.
"We remain convinced that our state-centric approach is the best way forward and will deliver the best results to the American people."