The Senate’s Republican leadership released a revised health care bill Thursday afternoon in an attempt to appease the handful of GOP senators standing firm on actual principles.
The new bill adopts a version of the Cruz-Lee amendment --- the Consumer Freedom Option --- intended to allow insurance companies to sell any health coverage plan they wish as long as they provide one plan that satisfies the mandates of Obamacare. However, the language included is not what senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) originally drafted. Lee had this to say about the new bill:
Just FYI - The Cruz-Lee Amendment has not been added to BCRA. Something based on it has, but I have not seen it or agreed to it. 1/2
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) July 13, 2017
I am withholding judgment and look forward to reading it. 2/2
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) July 13, 2017
According to The New York Times, the new bill also reflects a decision to keep a pair of taxes on high-income people and to expand the use of tax-favored health savings accounts to bridge a vast gap between conservative and progressive Republicans.
What do you think? Does the new bill get the job done? Should GOP senators pass it? Take the poll: