Where Tennessee’s Senators Are On The Health Care Bill

Updated 3:30 p.m.: Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker says delaying a vote on the health care bill should show that the senate wants “to get it right.” He says in a statement that he will work over the next few days to “resolve a number of legitimate issues.”Reported earlier:

Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander says the Congressional Budget Office report, which finds 22 million  Americans will lose insurance under the Senate’s health care plan, is “helpful information.”

In a statement, Alexander says he’s encouraged that the CBO projects premiums would begin to fall under the bill starting in 2020, though the independent analysis pins the rate decrease partially on plans’ covering fewer benefits.

More: Review the CBO report

Alexander has a long list of benefits in the bill which he has been publicizing. He’s not yet explicitly offering his support, though he was on the panel that helped craft the bill. But he is framing the alternative in a negative light.

“It’s important to remember that the alternative to this bill is current law that leaves 162,000 Tennesseans who make less than $12,000 a year without aid to buy insurance, and as many as 350,000 Tennesseans in the individual market facing the real possibility of having zero insurance options next year,” he writes.

The office of Sen. Bob Corker is saying little more than he’s “still reviewing” the draft legislation. He’s also encouraging Tennesseans to provide input here. A spokesperson says Corker’s office has reached out to patient advocacy groups, hospitals, physicians, insurers and state officials in health, finance and insurance.

“I will make a final decision based on whether this legislation, on the whole, is better than what is in place today,” he said last week.

Nashville Democrat Jim Cooper puts the chances of Congress passing a major health care bill this week at less than 50 percent.

He says he’s hopeful enough Republicans in the Senate will come out against the proposal to force lawmakers back to the bargaining table. Cooper calls the measure cruel because it would cut taxes for a small percentage of households while reducing coverage for millions nationwide.

And, he says, there’s no reason to rush a health care measure through before Congress recesses for the 4th of July holiday.

“Let’s take a week off and let’s to a better job,” he told reporters in Nashville this week. “Let’s take two weeks off. I’m for action. There are repairs in Obamacare that need to made. They should have been made over these last seven years.”

Cooper predicts the Republican health care bill will result in more hospitals shutting in Tennessee. Eight have closed in recent years, more than any other state but Texas.

Here’s a chart of who wins and who loses in the Senate bill:

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WPLN’s Chas Sisk contributed to this report.