The Club for Growth said Tuesday it will oppose the Senate GOP’s healthcare bill and criticized the Republicans for drafting a proposal that is “Obamacare-light.”
“For seven long years, Americans have waited for healthcare reform that would repeal the disaster that is Obamacare,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh said in a statement. “The Club for Growth and the American people took Republicans in Congress at their word when they promised to repeal every word — ‘root and branch’ — of Obamacare and replace it with a patient-centered approach to health care.”
“Only in Washington does repeal translate to restore. Because that’s exactly what the Senate GOP healthcare bill does: it restores Obamacare. And while it’s hard to imagine, in some ways the Senate’s legislation would make our nation’s failing healthcare system worse.”
The conservative group joins the ranks of at six Republican senators opposed to the bill, including four conservatives: Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Mike Lee of Utah, Ted Cruz of Texas and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
The conservative senators warn the Senate’s proposal doesn’t repeal enough of Obamacare, an argument with which the Club for Growth agreed.
McIntosh criticized the legislation for punting the task of cutting spending to future Congresses and failing to lower the cost of health insurance premiums by leaving most of Obamacare’s regulations in place.
Club for Growth also said it would oppose the healthcare plan because it creates “Republican mandates and penalties for Americans who can’t afford the Obamacare-light heath insurance.”
“From the beginning of this debate, Club for Growth was crystal clear about what constituted a real repeal of Obamacare,” McIntosh said. “Repeal all the tax increases, repeal and mandates, and repeal the regulations that make health insurance unaffordable. The Senate GOP’s healthcare bill falls woefully short on all three.”
Senate Republicans released their healthcare bill last week, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is planning to hold a vote on the plan by Friday.
