(Bloomberg) -- Senate Republicans making one last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare have thedaunting task of assembling 50 votes for an emotionally chargedbill with limited details on how it would work, what it would costand how it would affect health coverage -- all in 12days.

They need to act by Sept. 30 to use a fast-track procedurethat prevents Democrats from blocking it, but the deadline doesn’tleave enough time to get a full analysis of the bill’s effects fromthe Congressional Budget Office. The measure wouldface parliamentary challenges that could force leaders to strip outprovisions favored by conservatives. Several Republicans arestill withholding their support or rejecting it outright.

And even if Republicans manage to get it through the Senate bySept. 30, the House would have to accept it without changing asingle comma.

Most Senate Republicans are still trying to figure out what it’sin the bill, which was authored by Republicans Lindsey Graham ofSouth Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. Until the past fewdays, most assumed that GOP leaders had no interest in reviving theObamacare repeal effort after their high-profile failure to pass ameasure this summer.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday called theproposal "an intriguing idea and one that has a great deal ofsupport." While he didn’t endorse the plan, he added that senators’opportunity to replace Obamacare may "pass us by if we don’t actsoon."

Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana said he’s stilltrying to figure out how the bill will affect his state and wantsto hear what GOP leaders say at a closed-door lunch Tuesday.

‘Active discussion’

“It will be a very active discussion,” he said.

The new repeal bill would replace the Affordable Care Act’sinsurance subsidies with block grants to states, which would decidehow to help people get health coverage. The measure would endObamacare’s requirements that individuals obtain health insuranceand that most employers provide it to their workers, and it wouldgive states flexibility to address the needs of people withpre-existing medical conditions.

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But lawmakers won’t have much more information about thelegislation by the time the Senate would have to vote. The CBO saidMonday it will offer a partial assessment of the measure early nextweek, but that it won’t have estimates of its effects on thedeficit, health-insurance coverage or premiums for at least severalweeks. That could make it hard to win over several Republicans whoopposed previous versions of repeal legislation.

So far, President Donald Trump has suggested he’d support thebill, but he hasn’t thrown his full weight behind it.

McConnell has told senators he would bring up the bill if it had50 votes, and under fast-track rules he could do so at any timebefore Sept. 30. That’s the end of the government’s fiscal year,when the rules expire and the GOP would have to start over.

Several holdouts

Republicans can only lose two votes in the 52-48 Senate andstill pass the measure, with Vice President Mike Pence’stie-breaker. There are at least four holdouts, and getting any ofthem to back the measure would require the senators to change theirpast positions. Pence, who would cast the potentially decidingvote, will return to Washington from New York Tuesday, where he’sbeen taking part in United Nations General Assembly events, toattend Senate GOP lunches.

Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky said Monday he’s opposed to theGraham-Cassidy bill, saying it doesn’t go farenough. John McCain of Arizona said he’s “not supportive” yet,citing the rushed legislative process.

Two other Republicans -- Susan Collins of Maine and LisaMurkowski of Alaska -- have voted against every repeal billconsidered this year in the Senate, citing cuts to Medicaid andPlanned Parenthood as well as provisions that would erodeprotections for those with pre-existing conditions. TheGraham-Cassidy bill contains similar provisions on those threeareas.

"I’m concerned about what the effect would be on coverage, onMedicaid spending in my state, on the fundamental changes inMedicaid that would be made," Collins told reporters Mondayevening.

She said that Maine’s hospital association has calculated thestate would lose $1 billion in federal health spending over adecade compared to current law.

"That’s obviously of great concern to me," she added.

Hard sell

Murkowski is getting a hard sell from Republican backers of thebill.

“What I’m trying to figure out is the impact to my state,”Murkowski told reporters Monday. “There are some formulas at playwith different pots of money with different allocations anddifferent percentages, so it is not clear.”

Alaska Governor Bill Walker, an independent, expressed concernabout the plan’s risks to Medicaid and said individual statesshould have a chance to weigh in, the Fairbanks Daily News-Minerreported.

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"Any proposal to restructure Medicaid goes far beyond repealingthe Affordable Care Act," Walker said, adding, "Any proposal toshift federal costs to the states would likely result in drasticcuts to our Medicaid program."

McCain, who is close friends with Graham, cast the deciding voteto sink an earlier repeal bill in late July when he made a dramaticreturn to the Senate after a brain cancer diagnosis. At the time,he made an eloquent plea for colleagues to work with Democrats anduse regular legislative procedures instead of trying to jam itthrough on a partisan basis.

John Weaver, a former top adviser to McCain, said supportingGraham-Cassidy would require the Arizona senator to renege on hisword.

‘Fair process’

"I cannot imagine Senator McCain turning his back not only onhis word, but also on millions of Americans who would lose healthcare coverage, despite intense lobbying by his best friend," Weaversaid in an email. "Graham-Cassidy, if truly attempted to pass, willbypass every standard of transparency and inclusion important topeople who care about fair process."

Despite the obstacles, the bill’s backers are putting on a goodface about the prospects.

"We’re making progress on it,” said Republican Senator RonJohnson of Wisconsin. “I’m still cautiously optimistic, but thereare a lot of moving parts.” Johnson is planning a Sept. 26 hearingon the measure in the Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsCommittee, which he leads. The Senate Finance Committee is planningits own hearing Sept. 25 on the measure.

"There’s a lot of interest," Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvaniasaid Monday. "Those guys have done some very good work."

A number of Republicans are still pushing for changes to thebill, so the final version may evolve. It’s also subject toparliamentary challenges under the reconciliation process beingused to circumvent the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. That couldallow Democrats to strike provisions that take aim at Obamacare’sregulatory structure.

Last chance

If it passed the Senate, the House would have to pass the billwithout any changes. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Monday that themeasure is Republicans’ last best chance to repeal Obamacare.

“We want them to pass this, we’re encouraging them to passthis,” Ryan told reporters at a news conference in Wisconsin. “It’sour best, last chance of getting repeal and replace done.”

But that won’t be easy either. The measure strives to equalizeMedicaid funding between states, which means that some HouseRepublicans from Medicaid expansion states could find it hard tosupport. That includes states like New York and California, whichstand to lose federal funds under Graham-Cassidy. Those states haveonly Democratic senators, but have some GOP House members.

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Another run

In some ways, it’s remarkable that Republicans are mountinganother run at repeal.

Two months ago, McConnell’s effort to pass a replacement withonly Republican support suffered a spectacular defeat in theSenate. When members of the Senate health committee then beganworking on a bipartisan plan to shore up Obamacare, Graham andCassidy revved up a new bid to get their GOP-only bill to theSenate floor.

Graham and Cassidy are hoping to channel the GOP’s embarrassmentat failing to repeal Obamacare this summer after seven years ofpromising to do so. But Paul said Monday this legislation shouldn’tbe treated like a “kidney stone” you pass “just to get rid ofit.”

Despite all the obstacles, Democrats quickly geared up foranother campaign against repeal, warning that the latest bill is aserious threat.

"This bill is worse than the last bill," Senate Democraticleader Chuck Schumer of New York told reporters Monday. "It willslash Medicaid, get rid of pre-existing conditions. It’s very, verybad."

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