Senators devise fallback plan if new health bill stumbles

WASHINGTON – Led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a group of senators began working on a fallback plan this week that would sustain Obamacare’s insurance market if the Republicans fail to repeal and replace the 2010 health care law before recessing in mid-August.

Graham has billed his plan as a bipartisan “alternative” to the repeal-and-replace bill being pushed by Senate GOP leaders – an amendment that would stabilize Obamacare’s exchanges and protect Americans from sticker shock as insurers face a smaller, sicker pool of customers.

The South Carolina Republican, who has consulted several Democratic colleagues and governors, is expected to release details of his plan this week. Bloomberg News said the amendment would allow states to use their share of a reinsurance fund to subsidize the cost of chronically-ill Obamacare enrollees and authorize cost-sharing payments for insurers.

“We don’t agree with Obamacare, but recognize the fact that these markets are collapsing; insurance companies need it to provide the certainty of how they’re going to price the 2018 premiums,” said Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a Republican opposed an earlier version of the Senate GOP health care bill on the grounds that it failed to “loosen up [Obamacare’s] regulations and mandates.”

Graham is said to be working with key Republican holdouts, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and Democrats like Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, who has bemoaned the GOP’s effort to go it alone on health care reform.

Should Graham introduce an amendment, it would be debated once Senate GOP leaders clear the procedural hurdle of getting their bill to the floor for consideration – something Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) plans to attempt next week.

A separate, bipartisan bill would have to go through the regular legislative process and garner 60 votes for passage.

“I want to do the best I can, and I think the best we can is not on the table right now,” Graham said.

McConnell, who is set to unveil a revised version of the GOP-only bill on Thursday, has warned his caucus that “some kind of action with regard to the private health insurance market” will have to be taken if a repeal-and-replace bill fails.