Ted Cruz's health-care plan earns key endorsements from the White House, outside conservative leaders

Sen. Ted Cruz has a health-care plan
(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The White House and a pair of influential conservative advocacy groups have endorsed a proposal by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that would allow health insurers to offer cheaper, less-comprehensive plans as long as they also offered at least one plan that includes the essential consumer protections required by the Affordable Care Act. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has sent Cruz's proposal to the Congressional Budget Office for cost-benefit analysis.

Wednesday's endorsement of the Cruz amendment by the leaders of FreedomWorks and the Club for Growth "is significant: Without at least a neutral stance from conservative groups, it could be impossible for McConnell to find the 50 votes needed to pass a repeal this month," Politico reports. "But what the right is asking for may not be able to pass the Senate." The proposal may well violate budget rules that McConnell is using to push through his bill with 51 votes, and more centrist senators and outside insurance experts are concerned that it would essentially price people with pre-existing conditions and other high medical needs out of the insurance market.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.