Thune outlines 3 pieces of possible health care deal

Majority Leader John Thune laid out Tuesday the three components any bipartisan health deal would have to address in order for it to pass the Senate.

That includes instituting minimum premium payments and other new restrictions, providing “a bridge to HSAs” including an expansion of the health savings accounts and dealing with the “Hyde issue” — language that limits federal funding for abortions. All three of the ideas are Republican priorities.

“Those are kind of the ‘big three’ when it comes to something that could get through the Senate,” Thune told reporters of what it would take to land a "healthy majority” in support of any health care deal.

"We want to ensure that if we do anything it's done in a way that reforms these programs and ... ensures that those dollars aren't being used to go against the practice that's been in place for the last 50 years around here when it comes to taxpayer dollars being used to finance abortions and that it also has this movement in the future toward HSAs," he continued.

A bipartisan group of senators is currently negotiating a possible agreement that would merge a two-year extension of the lapsed Affordable Care Act credits with new minimum premium payments and income restrictions, alongside broader cost-sharing reductions that would be phased in during the second year. The lapse of the beefed-up ACA subsidies reset the tax credits to their original 2010 Obamacare levels.

The lawmakers met Monday night and they said they are making progress — but they don't yet have a deal.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), one of the key negotiators, updated Thune Tuesday morning. Thune also met earlier Tuesday with Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Senate Health Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who co-led the GOP proposal to expand health savings accounts.

Cassidy said Tuesday he continued to work on the health savings accounts component, adding, “We’re gonna need the White House support to get something done.”

Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.