Several Democratic lawmakers are growing frustrated with Republican congressional leaders because they have yet to take up bipartisan measures aimed at fixing parts of Obamacare.
Some Democrats have approved about a half-dozen proposed fixes to the president's signature healthcare law, but those Democrats who would like to see some of those fixes passed say the Republican leadership isn't considering them because it's so focused on a full repeal of the law,
The Hill reports.
"There are some things [we'd be willing to change]," said Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, leader of the Senate's "Affordable Care Act Works" campaign.
"I am just not confident that Republicans in this Congress are focused on anything other than repeal," Murphy said.
"I think there's general willingness to sit down and talk. I just don't think we feel like we have a partner on the other side," he added.
Republicans are divided on whether a full repeal is what's needed or whether fixes should be considered, and it's a divide Democrats are willing to take advantage of, The Hill notes.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is among those in the GOP who have pushed for a full Obamacare repeal.
Jindal said in February that Republicans shouldn't go "Obamacare lite" on healthcare reform.
Some House Republicans worry that the GOP leadership has given up on trying to
repeal the healthcare law.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's spokesman Don Stewart told The Hill that "we can/will do both."
"The leader supports full repeal as well as targeted measures that provide Americans relief from the worst provisions of Obamacare," Stewart said.
Two bills with bipartisan support are one that would remove the definition of a workweek as 30 hours and one that would repeal the medical device tax.
While President Barack Obama opposes both measures, there could be enough support from both parties to overturn a veto.
Fixes that Democrats are pushing include repealing the excise taxes and a tax on the more expensive healthcare plans.
Democratic strategist Doug Thornell told The Hill that he thinks "they are scared of the blowback from the tea party if they were to do something that could be perceived as making improvements to the law."
One factor that is holding things up is waiting to hear how the Supreme Court decides in the
King v. Burwell case, which puts subsidies for those who purchased healthcare plans through the federal exchange on the chopping block.
Lobbyists are saying that the lawsuit has stalled any measures from moving forward.