Sen. Mike Lee, who helped to derail the Senate GOP health care bill, says he would support the measure if his amendment is added to the legislation.
Lee and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz proposed an amendment to allow insurance companies to sell policies that don’t comply with current federal guidelines as long as they offer ones that do.
Lee appeared on Fox and Friends Thursday morning to discuss how he could get to a yes vote on the legislation. From the Washington Times:
“It’s time to offer the American people the chance to connect with willing insurers to buy the policy that’s right for them. This amendment would leave other protections in place for those who need them, but it would also create other options for those who want them,” Lee said.
“All things being equal, if they could get that, I could get to yes. Now I speak only for myself. I control only my vote. But what I’m saying is all things being equal, if they added that with those protections, the protections of the dual pool, the fully loaded Consumer Freedom Amendment, I could get to yes.”
Lee also said he doesn’t see the Senate GOP moving forward on trying to pass health care now that Sen. John McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer, which will keep him away from Washington for an extended period of time.
“As close as these vote margins are it’s hard for me to imagine moving on to this without John McCain present. I’m unfortunately unaware of what his condition entails,” said Lee
