More than half a dozen Republican and Democratic senators have discussed alternatives to the embattled GOP healthcare bill, even as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he plans a vote next week to muscle the Obamacare repeal measure through the Senate.
Talks about a bipartisan fallback are based on the idea that Obamacare insurance markets have problems and would need to be fixed if the healthcare bill dies. For Democrats, it would avert a repeal of a signature achievement that they admit needs improvement. For some GOP moderates, it would be a concrete act that would help their constituents amid a maelstrom of partisan bickering.