Sen. Schatz: When Repeal Dies, Dems Will Sit Down and Negotiate

With the GOP bill to repeal Obamacare in trouble, there's talk of bipartisanship for healthcare reform legislation – but it'll likely require the "public death" of the repeal, The New York Times reported.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate health committee, has said he'd like to draft legislation to stabilize the marketplaces and provide a temporary continuation of subsidies paid to insurance companies – while Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has said she wants to work with members of both parties to “fix the flaws in” the Affordable Care Act, the Times noted.

But any changes would need the approval of both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan – and before that, "a public death" of the GOP effort to repeal the health law, according to the Times.

"We are not there," Sen. Brian Schatz, D.-Hawaii, told the Times about a potential bipartisan effort. "This bill has to die first in order for us to sit down and negotiate."

Meanwhile, Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., said he'd been "reaching out to Republicans who would like to find a principled compromise to fix what needs to be fixed in the Affordable Care Act," the Times reported.

Carper told the Times on Wednesday he's trying to "foster an environment in which conversation and collaboration could begin in earnest and continue over the Fourth of July recess."

“Our leaders are reluctant to have our members, however well intentioned, be lone rangers negotiating on our own," he told the Times.

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