Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday the only way to continue Obamacare insurance subsidy payments is if they are "married up with reform," declaring he would rather "politically die than prop up Obamacare."
In remarks aired on Fox News' "Shepard Smith Reporting," Sen. Graham said a bipartisan deal proposed by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., is unlikely to pass Congress — or be supported by President Donald Trump.
"Nobody on the Republican side is talking about propping up Obamacare," Graham said. "I would rather politically die than prop up Obamacare because it can't be saved."
Graham said continuing subsidy payments "have to be married up with reform."
"I appreciate what Sen. Murray did with Sen. Alexander," he said. "Sen. [Ron] Johnson [R-Wisc.] is working on a broader list of reforms."
"I think there's a lot of Republicans willing to continue the payments if the patients benefit, and if the we can get reform to a broken Obamacare system," he continued. "Nobody believes this fixes Obamacare permanently, but there's plenty of Republicans that are willing to continue the payments, including the president, if you get real reform."
He said Trump would back payments until it could be replaced by the healthcare reform proposed in legislation from Graham and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. — and "not throw good money after bad."
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