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A new health care proposal from GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham that would direct much of Obamacare's federal funding directly to the states could offer a starting point for Congress if the Senate GOP effort fails next week, according to a summary of the bill obtained by POLITICO. The bill from Graham is intended to appeal to Republicans as a replacement plan for Obamacare, while he hopes to sell the effort to Democrats as a repair plan. (Everett, 7/13)

The Graham-Cassidy plan would leave some of the Affordable Care Act’s taxes in place, but would take those funds and turn them over to state governments in the form of a block grant, leaving state lawmakers and governors to reform the health insurance system within their own borders. “In a nutshell, we’re keeping the taxes in place on the wealthy, we’re repealing the individual mandate and the employer mandate, and the medical device tax that 75 senators voted to repeal,” Graham said. (Garver, 7/13)

The new plan released Thursday morning and written by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (La.) would block grant about $500 billion of federal spending to the states over 10 years to either repeal, repair or keep their ObamaCare programs. (Hellmann, 7/13)