This makes much more sense if you click on the "graphic" link two lines down:
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Graphic
The 52 Republican senators have
been meeting several times a week behind closed doors to develop a bill
to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. At least 50 of them must
be on board for the bill to pass, and they could try as soon as next
week.
Republican senators are arranged based on their ideology scores
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13 of them, highlighted below, are leading the effort. They are members of a working group created by Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader. The group includes two of the most conservative senators – Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah — but excludes several prominent moderates.
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Mr. McConnell faces the same challenge that
Speaker Paul D. Ryan confronted in the House. A bill that caters to
conservatives risks alienating moderates.
Most senators want to make sure that people with
pre-existing conditions are protected, but over all, they have
different priorities. The fate of the health care bill could ultimately
be decided by a handful of senators.
Some Senators Want to Push
the Bill Further to the Right
Mr. Cruz and Mr. Lee would rather have a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Rand Paul of Kentucky has said that he doesn’t think the House bill passed in May went far enough. He said he did not want to replace the Affordable Care Act with “Obamacare Lite.”
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Senator Pat Toomey of
Pennsylvania wants to overhaul Medicaid and would go even further than
the House bill to reduce future Medicaid spending. The House bill
already ends Medicaid as an open-ended entitlement and slows the program’s growth.
Others Want to Soften the Medicaid Cuts
One of the most divisive issues among Senate Republicans is whether and how to end the expansion of Medicaid.
In 31 states that have expanded the program, the federal government
pays at least 90 percent of the costs for newly eligible beneficiaries.
The House bill would end the extra contributions beginning in 2020.
Several Republican senators from states that have expanded Medicaid — Rob Portman of Ohio, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Dean Heller of Nevada — want to reduce federal payments gradually, perhaps over seven years.
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Mr. McConnell has proposed phasing out federal payments over three years.
Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Cory Gardner of Colorado have also expressed reservations about cuts to Medicaid.
Some Want More Assistance
for the Old and the Poor
Several senators have been working on possible
changes to federal tax credits offered in the House bill to help people
buy insurance.
Senator John Thune of South
Dakota is drafting a proposal to provide more financial assistance to
low-income people and older Americans. He has said that Senate
Republicans should make the bill “more helpful to people on the lower end.”
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Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate, and Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor with a keen interest in health policy, also want to make sure that insurance is affordable for older people with lower incomes.
The two have written their own alternative
to replace major provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which would
give states broad discretion to keep or roll back parts of the law.
The 46 Democratic senators and two independents are all expected to vote against the bill, which needs 51 votes to pass, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a tie, if needed.
Moderate and conservative Republicans disagreed
over many details of the House bill. In the end, concessions were made
to appease the Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-line conservatives, and to attract the votes of some moderates.
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