Add Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Caronlina to the list of Republican lawmakers who doubt healthcare reform will happen this year, The Daily Caller reports.
“I don’t think there will be (a comprehensive health care bill this year). I don’t think we can put it together among ourselves,” he told reporters Monday. “I’ve always believed let Obamacare collapse; get the Democrats to help us fix it. That’s always been my preferred route.”
The House passed the American Health Care Act in May, but the legislation will likely be rewritten in the Senate with Medicaid as the major hurdle. The bill would eliminate tax penalties mandated by Obamacare and erase tax increases in the Affordable Care Act on higher-earning people and the health industry. It also cuts the Medicaid program for low-income people and lets states impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients.
Other Republican senators who doubted passage of the bill in 2017 include Richard Burr of North Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona.
"There are some still saying that we'll vote before the August break. I have a hard time believing that," Flake said on May 31.
Burr told WXII 12 News he thinks it's "unlikely that we will get a healthcare deal," and that the House healthcare plan is "dead on arrival" in the Senate. He added, "I don't see a comprehensive healthcare plan this year," and noted he is "more interested in putting the American people back to work right now."