U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey isn't sure any issue in modern American politics has been as publicly litigated as Obamacare.

Now working on a bill to replace the existing health care law, the Lehigh County Republican spoke Friday about those efforts, alleged Russian tampering with U.S. elections, congressional security and other issues at WFMZ-TV. He took questions from anchor Rob Vaughn, other reporters and social media.

People submitting questions were most interested in health care, Vaughn said, and Toomey's one of about a dozen senators working on replacing the Affordable Care Act. Specifically, he's been tasked with working out changes to Medicaid, which covers low-income, elderly and disabled individuals.

Toomey noted that health care discussions revolve around changes to Medicaid and the individual markets created under Obamacare, and not the employer-provided health insurance or Medicare that cover the bulk of America. Given Democrats won't support a bill that repeals the heart of Obamacare, the Republican authors must hold the support of virtually every member of their party to be successful.

The group has been criticized for working in private, but Toomey said he can't imagine the bill his group produces wouldn't become a public document that would be evaluated by the Congressional Budget Office before the Senate votes on it. The House voted last month on its own health care bill without waiting for CBO.

Funding for the Medicaid program is one area where the Senate bill is likely to differ from the House's. The outcome is important for Pennsylvania, which is among 31 states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare, allowing a new category of adults to access coverage beyond the traditional program.

The federal government has been paying the full cost for the new category, but those payments will drop to 90 percent by 2020. While both the House and Senate are looking to reduce how much the federal government kicks toward Medicaid, the House wants to make the change abruptly, Toomey said, while the Senate wants that change to be more gradual. Toomey said the federal government should eventually pay the same percentage for the the new category of the Medicaid population as it does the old, which in Pennsylvania is 52 percent.

Getting there would cost some recipients coverage, critics warn. Under Obamacare 700,000 more Pennsylvanians signed up for coverage, and the state is running a deficit.

Toomey said a measure of the new bill's success will be whether premiums decline, something he said wasn't seen under Obamacare. He noted some people under Obamacarehave one choice of insurer.

There has to be a viable health insurance market, Toomey said, and the new bill will have to make sure people aren't "gaming the system" by only signing up for health care after they have a problem.

"Let's get the policy right," he said. "If we get it right, people are going to want to have health insurance and they will and it will be available and affordable."

Toomey also spoke Friday about the investigation into alleged Russian interference with the United States elections. Addressing a comment he'd made previously on CNN, Toomey said the "media obsession" with the idea that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians was "overblown," noting two Democrats close to the investigation have said there's no evidence of it. Toomey said he's not aware of evidence of obstruction of justice, either.

But, he said, Russia's actions are a problem and their behavior has been "outrageous."

"I don't have any doubt that Russia tried to interfere with our elections," he said. "They are generally trying to discredit western democracies in the United States particularly."

Speaking to reporters after the televised interview, Toomey called the Wednesday shooting incident during a GOP baseball practice that injured House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, two Capitol Police officers and two others, "extremely concerning." He said there's reason to believe this was an isolated action of a "deranged individual."

"If that's the case then hopefully this sort of thing will remain exceedingly rare and we don't have a lot to worry about," he said.

The interview came a few hours after President Donald Trump fired off a series of tweets about reports of an investigation into whether he colluded with the Russians, calling it a "witch hunt."

Toomey was asked what he thought of such Twitter activity.

"Generally, I think we'd be better off if there were fewer tweets. I don't think it's helping to advance the agenda I want to get [done]," he said. "Fewer tweets wouldn't hurt."

mmerlin@mcall.com

twitter @michellejmerlin

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Pat Toomey talks health care, Russia, and security during Lehigh Valley stop - Allentown Morning Call