The details: Hatch and Brady’s proposal, which hasn’t yet been translated into legislative text, is largely in line with what the White House has said it wants. Their proposal would:
- Fund the ACA’s cost-sharing subsidies for two years
- Attach new abortion-related conditions on those funds
- Waive the individual mandate for five years
- Retroactively waive the employer mandate for two years
- Expand health savings accounts
The alternative: The bill sponsored by Sens. Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray, by contrast, would fund the cost-sharing subsidies for two years; allow more people to buy cheaper, less comprehensive coverage; and make it easier for states to seek waivers from some of the ACA’s regulatory requirements.
The bottom line: Few, if any, Democrats could support Hatch-Brady — and that gives it much longer odds than Alexander-Murray, which already has the 60 votes it would need to pass the Senate. The question is whether GOP leaders will try to find a middle ground — and whether the presence of an alternative will stop Alexander-Murray from gaining more GOP support, especially in the House.
HENRY KOTULA 