Senate Democrats have offered to work with Republican lawmakers if they promise to drop their bid to release the ACA and instead focus on improving the nation’s health care system.
Democratic leaders have been appearing on talk shows and in town hall meetings after the GOP’s attempt to repeal Obamacare showed no signs of slowing down after its first failed attempt and their recent House victory.
Five days after the House passed a repeal and replace measure, Democrats used a letter to Republican leaders arguing that the legislation faces “an uncertain path to the president’s desk.”
The Senate can afford to lose only two GOP senators’ votes in order to pass the measure but would be saved by a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence.
“If repeal is abandoned, we stand ready to work with you to help all Americans get the affordable health care they need,” said the letter, signed by all 46 Senate Democrats and two independents who side with them.
Democratic leaders have promised to work towards reducing premiums and drug costs, stabilizing insurance markets and helping small businesses provide health coverage.
The GOP is being attacked by some unlikely sources, including talk show host Jimmy Kimmel who credited doctors for a life-saving surgery that was performed on his own son.
Check out Kimmel’s impassioned plea to Republican lawmakers.
Kimmel followed up that monolog by reacting to the response he received from his speech.
On Monday night Kimmel mockingly apologized for saying children should have health care, saying, “It was insensitive, it was offensive.”
Kimmel’s guest, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., urged viewers to call Democratic senators and ask them to engage in the health care debate and to demand that Republicans back legislation lowering premiums and providing adequate coverage.
“You’re on the right track,” Cassidy told Kimmel. Cassidy added, “Now, we’ve got to be able to pay for it, and that’s the challenge.”
Democrats still face an uphill battle after House Speaker Paul Ryan called the GOP bill “a better system” that would lower premiums. Among Ryan’s plan is to charge older customers up to five times as much for healthcare compared to their younger counterparts.
In the meantime, Republicans such as Rep. Rod Blum, have walked away from town hall meetings when questioned about the GOP-led health care bill. The refusal to engage with the American people seems to signal an unwillingness of the Republican party to waiver in its attempts to destroy healthcare in America.
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