WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, says Democrats just have no real desire to work together on the healthcare issue, and some Republicans are at fault, too.
Hatch told Reuters that there’s just too much animosity, and senators are just too divided for now to keep working on it.
Hatch said the Senate needs to move ahead on tax reform and they can come back to Healthcare afterward, so he’s not giving up.
The Senator’s office released the following statement:
Following the Senate’s failure to take action on healthcare last week, Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, announced that he plans to move on to tax reform. Hatch left the door open to return to healthcare before the end of the year, but cited a lack of consensus on how to best address the issues of our healthcare system, and a need for the Senate to address other critical issues facing the American people.
On the issue of the cost-sharing subsidy payments the administration has been making, Hatch said the Senate would need to appropriate that money to meet prior obligations. President Trump had previously threatened to cut off these subsidies, which help insurers keep deductibles down for low-income people who get health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges.
“I’m for helping the poor, always have been. And I don’t think they should be bereft of healthcare,” Hatch said.
