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Ted Cruz Proposes Amendment With Aim To Salvage Senate Health Care Plan

Ayan Mittra
/
The Texas Tribune
Speaking to reporters after President Donald Trump's address to Congress on Feb. 28, 2017, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz reiterated his desire to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, saying that Americans were suffering from high insurance premiums.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is pushing hard to keep the Senate health care bill's prospects alive, amid a rollercoaster week at the U.S. Capitol. 

On Tuesday, Senate Republican leaders postponed taking up a major overhaul of the health care system as several Republicans and all of the chamber's Democrats maintained opposition. 

Cruz, a Texas Republican, is now proposing an amendment that would allow any health plan to offer "non-Obamacare compliant" plans in a state if it was already offering at least one plan that does comply with the 2010 health care law in that state, according to a Vox.com report

That measure, combined with reducing the bill's tax cuts, could possibly be enough to win over a conservative bloc of senators who are withholding support for the bill, while also freeing up funds to boost Medicaid funding, which might bring along some moderate Republicans opposed to the bill, per Vox. 

A Cruz spokeswoman confirmed the details of the report to the Tribune. 

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is aiming to pull together new legislation by Friday, in hopes that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office can analyze it over the July 4th recess. He had hoped to vote on a bill this week but abruptly pushed those plans back on Tuesday. 

He and other leaders have suggested that despite this week's setbacks, the Senate will pick the issue back up in mid-July.

Cruz has repeatedly postured himself as a consensus builder in the health care negotiations – but he did withhold support from the initial bill proposed last week. 

GOP senators are increasingly feeling pressed for time to address promises to overhaul the country's health care system. Soon, Congress will need to agree to raise the U.S. government's debt ceiling, or face a possible default. Both chambers traditionally leaves town for a five-week recess in August and into the early fall. The month of September is often consumed with budget negotiations. 

And soon, the 2018 midterm elections will come to the fore, which is expected to make it even tougher for Republicans to move forward on politically volatile issues like health care.

The Texas Tribune provided this story.

Abby Livingston joined the Tribune in 2014 as the publication's first Washington Bureau Chief. Previously, she covered political campaigns, House leadership and Congress for Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper. A seventh-generation Texan, Abby graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. She grew up in Fort Worth and has appeared in an episode of "The Bold and The Beautiful." Abby pitched and produced political segments for CNN and worked as an editor for The Hotline, National Journal’s campaign tipsheet. Abby began her journalism career as a desk assistant at NBC News in Washington, working her way up to the political unit, where she researched stories for Nightly News, the Today Show and Meet the Press. In keeping with the Trib’s great history of hiring softball stars, Abby is a three-time MVP (the most in game history —Ed.) for The Bad News Babes, the women’s press softball team that takes on female members of Congress in the annual Congressional Women’s Softball breast cancer charity game.