Republicans need to come to the table and hammer out a solution to the nation's healthcare woes, Rep. Marsha Blackburn said Thursday.
"We need to have everybody sit at the table and find a solution to this," the Tennessee Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program. "When my kids were little, we had an issue to solve, we had a family call. That meant, everybody to the kitchen table. Everybody bring their ideas. Let's stay there and work it out. That is exactly what the Senate needs to do."
Senators need to come together so the House can go to conference on the bill, she continued, and "get to the goal of putting our nation on a track to patient-centered healthcare, so doctors and patients and families, who are making those decisions, not bureaucrats in Washington D.C., will have some insurance."
Even though the Senate Republicans' replace bill was abandoned and there are several Republicans rejecting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's second plan, an outright repeal, there is still hope, Blackburn said.
"The American people are hurting," she said. "I was talking to a constituent this week at a visitation, and she said, 'I cannot begin to tell you how miserable it has been. Five insurance companies within four years, it is too expensive to afford. Can not see the doctor, $30,000 out of pocket before you get a benefit.' This is breaking the back of families. They want this resolved."
It doesn't matter if a person is a Democrat or a Republican, said Blackburn, but a solution must be reached.
"The Senate needs to get to the table," she said. "If it takes passing a bill that has a deadline out there, do it."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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