�Թϲ�����

Bill Cassidy has taught medical students; led efforts to vaccinate thousands of Louisiana schoolchildren; founded a community clinic that pairs uninsured patients with doctors willing to treat them; and after Hurricane Katrina helped to transform an abandoned KMart in Baton Rouge into a makeshift hospital wing. The first-term Republican has effectively spent his career on health care. Now, for the first time in his political life, with Republicans in control of Washington and intent on replacing Obamacare, he’s in a position to play a pivotal role in reforming the nation’s heath care system. (Facher, 5/17)

Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said Tuesday it is alright if Democrats talk with two GOP authors of a more centrist Republican plan on healthcare because the pair is looking “beyond repeal.” Democratic leaders said Republicans must drop their efforts to repeal ObamaCare before any bipartisan talks can happen. Some centrist Democrats, though, met with Republicans in a meeting organized by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Monday night. (Sullivan, 5/16)