Senate Republicans are aiming for a vote to repeal Obamacare by the end of the month, Politico reported Monday.
If the upper chamber approves a repeal bill by then, Republicans would still have one month before the August recess to merge the House and Senate bills, which are expected to have big differences, Politico reported.
And if the Senate vote fails, Republican leaders want to have a decisive end to the Obamacare repeal debate and move on to tax reform —while potentially making more piecemeal changes to steady spiking premiums and shaky insurance markets.
"We have to do it before we get out of here in August," Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas told Politico. "We pretty much know what we have to do. We’ve talked about it for seven years. I wouldn’t want to necessarily rush it, but it’s hard to think it’s necessarily going to go beyond July."
Early drafts of legislation could be released by the end of this week, Politico reported.
"I don’t think this gets better over time," Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., told Politico. "So my personal view is we’ve got until now and the Fourth of July to decide if the votes are there or not. And I hope they are."
At a GOP lunch Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will present an early blueprint of healthcare overhaul efforts, and potential solutions to internal divisions, according to Politico.
According to the news site, Republicans are getting close to a framework on how to reduce premiums, and there's general agreement on more generous tax subsidies than those the House passed. Still unresolved is when to roll back Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion and how much to cut Medicaid overall, Politico reported.
Sen. John Thune,R-S.D., told the outlet "there’s a huge reason we have to get 50 on this."
"We’re going to have a vote one way or the other," he said. "But if we don’t pass something, and we go into ’18? It’s on us to try and get this fixed."
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