Alexander, Corker take opposite sides on repealing Obamacare without a replacement plan

July 26--WASHINGTON -- Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker positioned themselves on opposite sides Wednesday as the Senate rejected a proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a plan to replace it.

Alexander, who chairs the Senate committee with jurisdiction over health care, was one of seven Republicans who broke rank with their leaders and voted against an amendment to repeal the Affordable Care Act within two years, which would have given lawmakers more time to come up with a replacement plan.

Corker supported the amendment, which failed on a 45-55 vote, dealing another blow to Republicans' chances to follow through on one of their signature campaign promises.

Alexander said he voted against the amendment because "I agree with President Trump that we should repeal and replace major parts of the Affordable Care Act at the same time."

"In 2015, we could have waited two years for relief, but we cannot now, when Tennessee insurance commissioner Julie McPeak says the state's individual insurance market is 'very near collapse,'" Alexander said in a statement. "We have 350,000 Tennesseans who buy insurance in the individual market -- songwriters, small businessmen and women, farmers -- who are worried today that they may have zero options for insurance in just six months.

"In addition, I don't think Tennesseans would be comfortable canceling insurance for 22 million Americans, and trusting Congress to find a replacement in two years. Pilots like to know where they're going to land when they take off, and we should, too."

Corker said he supported the amendment because he believes the best path forward is for Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, "after a reasonable transition period."

"This amendment would take us back to a level playing field where, by a date certain, all sides have incentive to work together to develop a health care replacement that would generate broad support and stand the test of time," he said.

The vote came on the second day of a 20-hour Senate debate on health care as Republican leaders scramble to win enough votes from their own members to pass something to replace the Affordable Care Act.

Senators are continuing to debate various proposals to repeal and replace the health care law.

Late Tuesday, Corker was one of nine Republicans who voted against a different repeal-and-replace proposal.

That plan was actually a collection of proposals that would have, among other things, allowed insurers to sell stripped-down, low-cost health insurance plans and would have included money to help low-income people pay out-of-pocket medical expenses.

Tuesday night's vote came a few hours after Senate Republicans voted to move forward with debate on a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, even though no one is certain what the final bill will look like.

Both Corker and Alexander sided with other Republicans and voted to begin the debate.

Reach Michael Collins at 703-854-8927, at mcollins2@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @mcollinsNEWS.

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