WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to write a Republican-only health care bill he can push through the Senate. To do that, the Kentucky Republican has to resolve warring demands from conservative and moderate GOP senators.
Whatever bill the Republicans write will lose if just three of the 52 GOP senators defect. That gives McConnell little room for error.
One top worry surfaced in the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report issued last week. It found that Republicans’ House-passed bill would cost 23 million people their health insurance coverage in 2026.
Senators say they’re writing their own bill. And many of them, especially those facing re-election next year, don’t want to be blamed for leaving that many people without insurance.
Republicans also face disputes over Medicaid and tax subsidy cuts.
While McConnell has promised a vote on the new Healthcare bill, he has continued to temper expectations about the likelihood of its passage.
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