They said McConnell assured them he would support the bills next year and that they would ask that the legislation be brought up in January.
The two senators also said legislation to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides health insurance for about 9 million children whose families do not qualify for the Medicaid insurance program for the poor, would be pushed to next year. Federal funding for CHIP expired on September 30.
States have been spending whatever was left of their CHIP funds, and some have received temporary relief from a $3 billion reserve. More than a dozen states are poised to send warning notices to families by the end of this month that their coverage could end.
“There is every reason to believe that these important provisions can and will be delivered as part of a bipartisan agreement,” Collins and Alexander said in a joint statement.
Even though Congress failed to pass comprehensive Republican healthcare legislation, Trump’s administration succeeded in weakening Obamacare through executive actions. Trump in October cut off billions of dollars of subsidy payments to insurers that had helped cover medical expenses for low-income Americans, halved the Obamacare open enrollment period and slashed federal advertising encouraging people to sign up for coverage.
Democrats and healthcare advocacy groups assailed the repeal of the individual mandate penalty.
“The tax reform bill not only increases the federal deficit as well as healthcare costs, but also results in a significant loss of health coverage for millions of Americans,” the National Multiple Sclerosis Society said in a statement. “People with pre-existing conditions, like MS, will be harmed the most.”