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All Eyes On Sen. John McCain — Again — In New Obamacare Repeal Effort

John McCain
(Photo by Gage Skidmore - CC BY 2.0)
Arizona Sen. John McCain

Senate Republicans are taking one last shot at health care overhaul, with a bill that’s become known as Graham-Cassidy. It’s named for GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy.

Gov. Doug Ducey has come out in favor of the measure, calling it the “best path forward to repeal and replace Obamacare.”

We talked about what’s in the bill — and its chances of being approved — with Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for Kaiser Health News.

McCain is so far on the fence about supporting the new measure. But he wants to ensure it has support on both sides of the aisle and goes through the proper vetting process in the Senate.

"Particularly when we’re talking about one-fifth of our gross national product, health care, then it should be done on a bipartisan basis. And we have committees where we could get that done," McCain said.

McCain was the dramatic deciding vote against the Obamacare repeal in July. Fellow Republicans have less than two weeks to vote to repeal by a simple majority. After Sept. 30, any bill to change the law would need 60 votes to pass the Senate.

Mark Brodie is a co-host of The Show, KJZZ’s locally produced news magazine. Since starting at KJZZ in 2002, Brodie has been a host, reporter and producer, including several years covering the Arizona Legislature, based at the Capitol.