Sen. Casey says he’s ready with amendments if GOP health plan comes up for vote

(York) — Senate Republicans are moving forward with their plans to remake the Affordable Care Act.

US Senator Democrat Bob Casey is also revealing part of his strategy as well.

Senate Republicans have a number of plans up for consideration, and have pledged to bring them to the floor this week.

The plans would affect tens of millions of Americans who shop on healthcare.gov or get help from Medicaid.

At a health care roundtable in York this morning, Senator Bob Casey argued the GOP’s proposed cuts to Medicaid would really hurt people who need help with their opioid addiction.

He says he’ll be ready with amendments if GOP leaders allow Democrats to offer their ideas.

So far, that hasn’t happened.

For comparison, according to the New York Times, 188 amendments from Republicans were included in the final Affordable Care Act, which passed when Democrats controlled Congress and the White House.

“Oh yeah, there are plenty of amendments ready. The main thing though is to keep making the arguments as to why this won’t work, why it’s a mistake to decimate Medicaid,” says Casey. “If we have an opportunity, if I have an opportunity to have an amendment that deals with Medicaid or issues like that, to preserve all that we can if a bill is moving forward, we will.”

Meanwhile, US Senator Republican Pat Toomey has said Medicaid is unsustainable and states can spend more money if they want to maintain coverage.

Casey says he and Toomey have a fundamental difference over the program.