House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Friday that a new ObamaCare replacement bill in the Senate is the “most promising” option for repealing the law.
Meadows spoke favorably of the bill from Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), which would replace ObamaCare with block grants to states instead of the law’s current spending on subsidies and Medicaid expansion.
“The most promising thing right now, Joe, is Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Cassidy working on a block-grant issue,” Meadows said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
The bill is a last-ditch effort to repeal the health law before the fast-track process to avoid a Democratic filibuster expires on Sept. 30.
The chances of any ObamaCare repeal bill passing in such a short time frame are extremely slim.
However, Meadows, along with Cassidy and Graham, are still pushing and trying to keep the effort alive.
The White House has also been supportive of efforts on the bill.
Senate GOP leadership, though, has shown little interest in returning to the bruising ObamaCare repeal fight, which failed in July.
Cassidy says he plans to introduce the bill by Monday.
Democrats decry the bill, saying inadequate funding in its block grants would mean damaging cuts to Medicaid and other programs. They point to a study from the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which found that the bill would result in a 34 percent cut in spending compared to ObamaCare over 10 years.
Meadows said he has been meeting with no fewer than 12 different senators on health care and that he is “optimistic” a deal can still be reached. “But time is running out,” he added.