Moderate GOP rep: Republicans can’t pass healthcare reform without Democrats

Republicans should stop shutting out Democrats if they want to pass healthcare reform, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) said Wednesday. 

The moderate Republican told CNN that trying to pass any type of reform with only one party on board won’t work, pointing to the failure of the GOP’s effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare last week. 

“I think we should engage in healthcare conversations, but it should be from the center out. Republicans and Democrats coming together in areas where there are problems, and then put that legislation out on the floor,” Dent said. 

{mosads}GOP leadership is still hopeful it can repeal ObamaCare without Democratic support through reconciliation, a special budget bill that only requires a simple majority to pass both Houses. 

But Republicans have faced resistance within their own party, with the conservative House Freedom Caucus refusing to vote for a bill that won’t eliminate all of ObamaCare’s insurer regulations, mandates and taxes. A bill that that meets those demands is unlikely to pass the Senate, however. 

Some lawmakers, like Dent, have argued that the only way to get health reform through Congress is to look for votes among Democrats. 

“I want to get this right,” Dent said. “I am all for negotiating with people who want to get to a solution that can get signed into law, but engaging in a partisan-only exercise, I think we just demonstrated, is not going to work to make this reform sustainable and durable. It’s going to have to be done on a bipartisan basis.” 

Dent also said that he hasn’t heard from President Trump about healthcare since last week and isn’t negotiating with anyone, including the Freedom Caucus.