A number of Senate Republicans are gathering behind a bipartisan push to shore up the Affordable Care Act, reflecting a growing divide between President Donald Trump and many GOP senators.

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday told a crowd of mostly liberal activists that she plans to co-sponsor a “Medicare-for-all” bill pushed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders that would create a national health insurance system.

Sanders, who energized liberals with his improbable run at the White House last year, is poised to introduce a long-awaited single-payer bill when Congress returns to Washington this month. The liberal icon insists it's not a litmus test for the Democrats, but he’s actively seeking endorsements. Outside liberal groups are watching closely, with some hinging their own endorsements on a candidate’s support for the Sanders health-care model.

Frustration with sky-high hospital bills and a lack of local competition is common to many employers and consumers across the country after years of industry consolidation. Fed up with wildly different price tags for routine operations, some private employers are steering patients they insure to top-performing providers who offer bargain prices. Santa Barbara County, with about 4,000 employees, is among a handful of public entities to join them.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said a health-care plan floated by Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana “has got merit and has legs under it.” The comments, in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, are Ryan’s most encouraging words yet for a proposal that grew out of the Senate’s failure to overhaul Obamacare.

The Senate Health Committee has scheduled two more hearings to help in crafting a bipartisan healthcare bill.