Bill Cassidy weighs in on shutdown, insurance overhaul and vaccines

WASHINGTON — On day 39 of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he is still working toward finding bipartisan compromise on health care costs. 

In a surprise appearance Saturday at the annual American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases meeting, Cassidy said he had put forward ideas that could help defray health insurance costs for Americans next year while Congress works toward a “mutually agreed upon, bipartisan package” to lower healthcare costs. He also spoke of his dismay at changing vaccine policy. 

In remarks on the Senate floor on Friday, he proposed that the government could try federally funded Flexible Spending Accounts, rather than “throwing more money at insurance companies.” But Democrats, he said, remain focused on extending existing subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance.