President Donald Trump is expressing hope that the Senate will pass a health care plan "with heart" following the release of a Republican plan to dismantle President Barack Obama's health law.
Senate Republicans had been briefed on the plan earlier Thursday.
More than one in five CT residents rely on Medicaid, the federal insurance program for low-income and disabled individuals.
The House-passed health care bill, called the American Health Care Act, would lead to 23 million fewer people having health insurance by 2026, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Some of its provisions were described by people on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them publicly.
"We believe we can do better than the Obamacare status quo, and we fully intend to do so", said McConnell, R-Ky.
At least a half-dozen GOP senators - conservatives as well as moderates - have complained about the proposal, the secrecy with which McConnell drafted it and the speed with which he'd like to whisk it to passage. The Illinois Democrat said the new draft legislation from GOP senators was an attempt to dust off the edges of the House bill and let them assert it was not as "mean".
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi assails the GOP bill as a tax break for wealthy Americans.
"We have to act", McConnell said on the Senate floor. "It's going to be important to get the president's support to get us across the finish line".
Senate GOP Health Bill Slashes Medicaid, Reshapes Obama Law
Sources say top Senate Republicans are finalizing their plan for dismantling President Barack Obama's health care law. But most senators said they haven't read the text of the legislation and withheld comment about their support.
The highly anticipated Senate GOP health care bill was released today and is already running into serious opposition.
Not only did the suggestion irk Republicans because of its implication of callousness, but Trump's suggestion would also put the bill at risk of violating Senate rules.
The sources said that in some instances, the documents McConnell planned to release might suggest optional approaches for issues that remain in dispute among Republicans. Cuts to federal funding would be felt more acutely in CT, which faces billions in looming deficits and would be unable to replace any lost federal money with state dollars. But Republicans from states that expanded Medicaid, like Ohio's Rob Portman, want to extend that to seven years. The Senate bill would keep the House plan to send a fixed amount of money to states each year based on enrollment or as a lump sum block grant. Unlimited federal dollars now flow to each state for the program, covering all eligible beneficiaries and services.
The ACA's contentious individual mandate would be eliminated under the GOP bill, ending the tax penalty levied on those who don't buy insurance.
Despite its nationwide unpopularity, Republican senators are still working on a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.
An analysis of the House bill conducted by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's budget office concluded the state could face an additional $1 billion in costs if it was adopted into law. Heller is up for re-election next year and is considered by Democrats to be one of the most vulnerable Republicans.
The bill is very similar to the version of the House bill that passed last month but with some key changes.
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