Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD, R-La., plans to introduce an updated version of his healthcare plan in a bid to win over Democrats who opposed broader efforts by their Republican congressional peers to repeal and replace the ACA, Bloomberg reports.
Dr. Cassidy, who spent decades working in charity hospitals and clinics before joining Congress, is developing a plan that would give states the option of retaining the ACA, scrapping it entirely or transitioning to a new system of health savings accounts and automatic health plan enrollment, according to the report.
"You can go to the reddest state and say we have the option to root and branch it, and you can go to the bluest state and say we have the option to keep what we like," said Sen. Cassidy, according to Bloomberg. Under the proposed plan, "Republicans say, 'You have the option to keep your plan,' and we mean it."
Republican lawmakers will need Democratic support to fully repeal President Barack Obama's signature health reform law. Sen. Cassidy is hoping his approach will appeal to Democrats who seek to preserve the law.
"We should have a plan that isn't Republican, that isn't Democrat," said Sen. Cassidy, according to the report. "Our plan gives each state the authority to run the health plan in their state as is suitable to their peculiar situation, and that's hard to argue with unless you want more power in Washington, D.C."
Read the full report here.