Republicans agree that they want to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but their plan of attack once the Supreme Court issues its King v. Burwell ruling in June regarding the legality of federal subsidies remains up in the air.
So far, a handful of informal proposed alternatives have emerged, but a consensus has not. Here's a brief breakdown of what some of those proposals entail, according to the Associated Press:
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Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) want to temporarily provide financial assistance for those who may lose subsidies. Their proposal has yet to be introduced as legislation and there are no others details.
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Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) wants to maintain subsidies for qualifieid individuals yet have them gradually disappear over a course of 18 months. It was introduced March 4 and there are no co-sponsors.
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Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas) want to repeal the ACA in its entirety and create new tax deductions. It has yet to be introduced and there are no details.
The divide Republicans currently face comes down to wanting to overhaul the ACA, and thus satisfy their conservative base, while also continuing to provide millions of Americans with affordable health coverage, noted a second AP story.
"I think it needs to be part of the presidential campaign, and then the winner will be able to point to that as part of their mandate," No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas said of replacing the ACA, according to the second AP story. Meanwhile, he added, "what we all need to do is unite around one approach, if that's at all possible, and that's been a challenge because there are competing good ideas out there."
While the House voted in February to repeal the ACA, the Senate has yet to cast a vote. As the AP pointed out, doing so could jeopardize the 2016 re-election bids of six Republican senators.
For more:
- here are the first and second AP stories