Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he would be willing to work with Republicans on health care reform.
But before Democrats even think about considering a GOP health care alternative, Schumer wants to make sure two aspects of the Affordable Care Act remain intact: Obamacare subsidies and insurance company bailouts.
"At the very beginning, we should stabilize the system," Schumer said Friday, the Washington Examiner reported. "Make permanent the cost sharing, which keeps premiums low."
Schumer said Senate Democrats also want to ensure insurance companies will receive a bailout, something Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) proposed in May, USA Today reported.
Once Republicans agree to those terms, Schumer says, Democrats are willing to "sit down and trade ideas."
"There has to be a give and take," Schumer said. "My colleagues and my caucus know that."
Schumer said Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) vote against the "skinny repeal" of Obamacare might have been the push both parties needed to come together to compromise.
"Sometimes you need a spark that inspires the forces of coming together that outweigh the forces of pulling part," Schumer said. "And John McCain may have done that."
McCain's vote against the Senate health care bill surprised many.
"Our inability to address the pressing health care needs of the American people with meaningful and lasting reform is inexcusable," McCain said in a statement Friday. He continued:
The vote last night presents the Senate with an opportunity to start fresh. It is now time to return to regular order with input from all of our members — Republicans and Democrats — and bring a bill to the floor of the Senate for amendment and debate. I have great faith in the ability of the Senator from Tennessee, Lamar Alexander, the Senator from Washington, Patty Murray, and others to work together in a bipartisan fashion to craft a bill that increases competition, lowers costs, and improves care for the American people. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to trust each other, stop the political gamesmanship, and put the health care needs of the American people first. We can do this.
Schumer took to Twitter to explain the next steps the Senate must take to ensure health care reform continues to move forward.
