Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said he would vote to advance a bill that would completely repeal the Affordable Care Act, but he won’t support a bill concocted by GOP leadership to repeal and replace Obamacare.
“The real question is what are we moving to,” Paul said on CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked if he’d vote on a procedural motion to advance a healthcare reform bill. “Last week, Senate leadership said it would be clean repeal … and I think that’s a good idea.”
However, if Senate Republican leadership brings up the Better Care Reconciliation Act again, Paul said, “I’m not for that because I’m not for taxpayer money going to rich insurance executives.”
The BCRA repeals and replaces parts of Obamacare, but Paul says it leaves too much of the law in place and doesn’t fix the structural problems that are causing the “death spiral.”
Paul said Republicans in the Senate are not confident enough in the private sector despite arguing on the private sector’s behalf on the campaign trail.
“Most Republicans still want full repeal but what disappoints me about Senate Republicans is they seem to have insufficient confidence in what made America great,” Paul said.
“These people don’t believe in the marketplace like they ought to.”
He added, “I am disappointed, I will continue to be disappointed. We should be what we said we were.”
