When it comes to the health care debate, congressional Republicans have two options.
They can keep trying to win over members of their own caucus, or they can take the advice of a bipartisan group of governors and reach out to the Democrats.
So far, they seem to be sticking with their fellow Republicans, and it’s a rocky road. Several Republican senators have already expressed doubt about the measure Senate leaders unveiled on Thursday. Others say they’re on the fence.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he wants a vote by the end of next week, but at this point, it doesn’t look like he has the votes to secure approval. McConnell’s Senate majority is razor thin. He can’t afford more than two defectors.
And the fact is it might not matter. Even if Senate leaders do manage to round up enough votes to get the bill passed, the measure still has to go to a conference committee to work out any differences from the House bill. At that point, the tug-of-war between conservatives and moderates will start all over again.
And even then, if Republican leaders in the two houses whip their members in line and pass a measure on a straight-party vote, the measure won’t last. Democrats proved that with the one-sided vote they used to approve Obamacare eight years ago.
Republicans have been campaigning ever since to get rid of the hated law, and Democrats, unless they’re part of the solution, will do exactly the same thing to whatever measure the Republicans manage to pass.
That is the message that bipartisan group of governors delivered in a recent letter to McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Shumer.
“While we certainly agree that reforms need to be made to our nation’s health care system, as Governors from both sides of the political aisle, we feel that true and lasting reforms are best approached by finding common ground in a bipartisan fashion,” the governors wrote. The letter was signed by Republicans John Kasich of Ohio, Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and by Democrats Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, Steve Bullock of Montana, John Hickenlooper of Colorado and John Bel Edwards of Louisiana. The governors were skeptical of the measure passed by the House.
“It calls into question coverage for the vulnerable and fails to provide the necessary resources to ensure that no one is left out, while shifting significant costs to the states,” the letter reads.
They might like the Senate version even less. While the House proposal would mainly cut off future Medicaid expansion recipients after 2020, the Senate version reduces funding for even those already enrolled in the program.
In their letter, the seven governors put forward an invitation.
“We stand ready to work with you and your colleagues to develop a proposal that is fiscally sound and provides quality, affordable coverage for our most vulnerable citizens,” they say in the letter.
Will McConnell and Shumer take them up on the offer? That remains to be seen, but the early signs aren’t promising.