On the surface, this looks like vintage Cruz — throwing a monkey wrench into the proceedings so he can score points amongst his followers (doubtless with an eye on a future run at the White House). There's a reason why Cruz is notoriously unpopular in the Senate, and these kind of shenanigans are it. Cruz considers it a win if he gets headlines, whether or not the party is damaged.
On other hand, the conspiracy theorist in me says, "Is this simply to make the Senate AHCA bill look better, by having those brave GOP Senators defend the public against Cruz' heartless efforts to segment the insurance pool and bankrupt people with pre-existing conditions.
That ignores the Senate bill giving permission to states to opt out essential health benefits in a way that will … well, segment the insurance pool and impact people with pre-existing conditions [1]. The difference is that the Senate bill lets the Senators' hands stay clean, rather than taking a direct hit for it as under the Cruz proposal.
I could easily see the GOP eager in this case to let Cruz grandstand, if it makes them look like heroes, and deflects opposition to the bill that they're putting through. Whether they can do that and get the bill passed is another question — but, at the very least, they would be able to blame Ted Cruz for Obamacare surviving.
