WASHINGTON (AP) – House Republicans are working on a companion to their bill replacing “Obamacare,” a legislative second act that would ease cross-state sale of health insurance and limit jury awards for pain and suffering in malpractice lawsuits.
The problem: the so-called “sidecar” bill lacks the votes in the Senate.
Skeptics abound. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas called it “mythical legislation” in an interview Tuesday on the Hugh Hewitt radio show. In a tweet, conservative Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., suggested “Easter basket” might be a better description.
Yet Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., has said he wants to move a companion bill through the House alongside the main GOP legislation that rolls back key parts of Barack Obama’s health care law and limits federal spending on Medicaid for low-income people.
That strategy may just help Ryan put together enough votes to get through the House, but then the sidecar would probably get detached in the Senate, where 60 votes would be needed for such legislation. Republicans only have 52 senators and they would need the support of Democrats alienated by the drive to repeal “Obamacare.”