Story highlights
Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy want to repeal and replace Obamacare
Sen. Bernie Sanders has unveiled his own 'Medicare for all' proposal
CNN will host a town hall with Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, who will be debating health care with Sens. Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar on Monday, September 25 at 9 p.m. ET.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper and chief political correspondent Dana Bash will moderate the 90-minute live event from Washington.
Graham and Cassidy are the namesake sponsors of a last-ditch effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act ahead of an end-of-the-month deadline, while Sanders introduced a new “Medicare for all” health care bill with a third of the Senate Democratic caucus by his side.
According to the chamber’s parliamentarian, senators only have until the end of the month to pass a bill with just 51 votes under the procedure known as reconciliation, and the Senate’s latest push isn’t all that different than the one that ultimately resulted in a health care bill being passed in the House.
As of Thursday, it’s not clear whether there are enough Republican votes to advance the Graham-Cassidy proposal, a health care bill that was released a week ago and would repeal the individual and employer mandates and turn the federal funding for Medicaid expansion and the subsidies into a block grant program.
Meanwhile, Sanders is pushing for his bill. He called the costs of the current system “insane and unaffordable,” promising that the average family would benefit financially under his plan “because you will no longer be writing checks to private insurance companies.”
Sanders, a Vermont independent, ran a hard-fought campaign for the Democratic presidential primary last year. Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat who is up for re-election next year, was not among those senators who co-sponsored Sanders’ bill.
The town hall debate will air on CNN, CNN en Español and CNN International as well as stream live for subscribers on CNNgo and the CNN mobile apps for iOS and Android. The town hall debate will also air on CNN’s SiriusXM Channel 116. The town hall debate will also be available September 26 on demand via cable or satellite systems, CNNgo platforms and CNN mobile apps.