Sen. Chuck Grassley
Two more Republican U.S. senators announced last night they won’t support the party’s effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the plan isn’t doomed.
Senate leaders intend to bring up the version of a new health care bill that passed in the U.S. House months ago. Grassley, a Republican, was asked if he’d support taking up the House bill.
“The answer is yes, but I don’t know that that’ll be the final vote,” Grassley says. “Right now, all I can repeat for you and the only thing I would want the public to know about is I would vote to proceed to that.”
While President Trump has called for an immediate repeal of the ACA, Senate leaders want to vote within days on a bill that would delay the repeal of “Obamacare” for two years while a better alternative is crafted.
Grassley says he supports bringing the House bill up for debate, but won’t commit to supporting the current bill.
“It’s subject to amendment on the floor of the United States Senate and it might be more than just repeal,” Grassley says. “If you’re asking me how I would vote on a bill to get it though the United States Senate, I would wait until we got through that amending process.”
The measure that passed in the House contains drastic differences from the Senate’s version of the bill, which didn’t have the support to move forward.
“My suspicion is, after you get through the amending process, the House bill won’t look like the House bill anymore,” Grassley says, “it’ll look closer to what was hoping to be brought up in the United States Senate.”
Grassley notes 72,000 Iowans won’t be able to get health insurance next year due to the “failed promises” of Obamacare. He says there is “urgency” to move ahead.