The Senate GOP healthcare bill faces some moments of truth this week before the July 4 recess as the architects risk losing moderates to appease the opposing conservatives — "a thin needle to thread" — Health and Human Service Secretary Tom Price said.
"Well, you've identified the challenge," Price told "Fox News Sunday" host Brit Hume, who asked how the bill can reach 50 votes in the 52-48 Senate when five Republicans are seeking changes that might bump out moderates from voting yes.
"There's no doubt about it. It's a thin needle to thread."
As the mainstream media paints the picture of all Democrats against the Senate GOP healthcare bill — a stubborn automatic "no" — and an increasing number of Republicans coming out to oppose it in its current form, Price said the opposition actually is amendable to changes, at least on the Republican side.
"If you talk to them, what they will tell you . . is that 'we want to be able to support this bill; we simply believe we can make this bill better in a certain way,'" Price told Hume.
"And so those conversations are ongoing. That's the nature of the legislative process. And that's what we will be working through this week."
That work will only be done by compromising Republicans, though.
The conservative opposition generally wants a more complete repeal of Obamacare. The rest of the Republican majority will attempt to compromise.
And the Democrats? Well, they will not budge on anything but the status quo of keeping Obamacare in its current form — which is not serving enough Americans' healthcare needs, Price said.
"Sadly, as the president has talked about, it would be wonderful to have some Democrats to come along and recognize that there are nearly 40 percent of our counties across this nation that will only have one issuer, insurance company providing coverage — there are going to be counties across this country that won't have any insurance company providing coverage," Price added.
Enlisting some reasonable Democrats can help in leveraging the gap between compromising Republicans against the conservative holdouts. This Senate GOP healthcare bill will be a compromise, but only on the Republican side — as the Democrats sit out this debate to protect Obamacare's legacy.
"Why aren't they coming to the table to help out?" Price asked about the expected unanimous no votes from Democrats on any GOP healthcare bill. "That's what this president would want to know."
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