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McCain On Health Care Reform: 'It Has To Be Bipartisan'

Published: Wednesday, October 18, 2017 - 5:54pm

Arizona’s two U.S. senators appear to be on board with a bipartisan effort on health-care reform.

Sen. John McCain says he is pleased the Senate has returned to normal order with two-party negotiations between Democrat Patty Murray and Republican Lamar Alexander.

After famously voting down a GOP repeal and replace proposal this summer, McCain says he’ll take a close look at their tentative agreement.

“I’m concerned about it. There’s plenty of work that has to be done, and it has to be bipartisan," McCain said.

The agreement would fix the problems with Affordable Care Act exchanges and restore the funding cut by the Trump administration last week.

The state’s junior senator, Jeff Flake, says time is of the essence.

“Arizona is hurting right now. We’re ground zero for failures on the exchange. We’ve had premiums increase 116 percent a year. 155 Arizonans woke up this morning without insurance," Flake said.

President Trump though sent more mixed signals Wednesday about whether he supports the bipartisan deal, saying he backs lawmakers' efforts to strike that compromise but "can never support" federal bailouts for insurers.