Senate

Dems to GOP leadership: Help us to fix ObamaCare

by Jordain Carney - 01/05/17 10:41 AM ET

Senate Democrats are making a long-shot bid to Senate GOP leadership urging them to work with them to fix — rather than repeal — ObamaCare.

Thirteen senators sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) arguing for improvements to the Affordable Care Act but warning that repealing the law would have “negative impacts.”

“The American people deserve a constructive bipartisan conversation about improvements we know need to be made to our health care system, and that will require time for the two sides to work together,” the Democrats wrote.

They added that any changes “must protect” provisions of ObamaCare that have allowed millions of Americans to gain insurance.

{mosads}The letter comes as the rhetorical battle over repealing ObamaCare began in earnest this week, with President Obama and Vice President-elect Mike Pence huddling with lawmakers to hash out strategy.

House and Senate Republicans are expected to pass guidelines for repealing ObamaCare next week, though they remain divided on how and when to replace the law.

McConnell separately rejected any push to fix ObamaCare on Thursday morning, saying lawmakers have a “moral imperative” to repeal and replace the law.

“ObamaCare’s failure is the fault of … those who forced it on our country. Not the American people, not the Republicans,” he added. “We didn’t cause this problem.”

But Democrats warned in their letter Thursday that moving forward without a replacement plan would open up Republicans to political backlash for roiling the healthcare market and potentially impacting Medicare beneficiaries.

“Those who support repeal assume the responsibility of mitigating the unnecessary and avoidable chaos this will create,” they wrote.

Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Tom Carper (Del.), Chris Coons (Del.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) and Mark Warner (Va.), and Independent Sen. Angus King (Vt.), signed the letter.