WASHINGTON (AP) – Moderate senators from both parties met Monday to explore whether they can work on bipartisan legislation overhauling the nation’s health care system.
The evening session came as Republican senators have begun closed-door meetings aimed at crafting a GOP bill scuttling much of President Barack Obama’s health care law.
With the political stakes high over health care, there seems little chance that a band of moderates from both parties would produce a package that will become the Senate’s chief bill, at least until Republicans have exhausted efforts to produce their own legislation.
But Monday’s meeting underscored that Democratic and Republican centrists consider it important to show home-state voters that they are seeking middle ground and are not using the issue to score partisan points.
There are already divisions between conservatives and GOP moderates over what their party’s bill should look like, with the two factions clashing over issues including Medicaid cuts. Republican leaders are hoping to produce a consensus GOP bill by this summer.