A major conservative group is opposing the Republican plan to replace Obamacare, which it has named “RyanCare,” partly because it doesn’t include a provision to allow insurers to sell plans across state lines.
The conservative Club for Growth is the latest conservative group to oppose the American Healthcare Act, a GOP repeal and replacement plan for Obamacare released late Monday. Club for Growth joins Heritage Action and the Koch-brothers backed group Americans for Prosperity in opposing it.
Club for Growth was perturbed the bill didn’t include a provision to enable insurers to sell plans across state lines, a mainstay in GOP replacement plans floated over the years.
“Such an injection of competition would lead to hundreds of billions of dollars in savings, nullifying any argument by congressional Republicans that this provision cannot be included in the current bill,” said President David McIntosh.
McIntosh was referring to the procedure called reconciliation, which enables a piece of legislation to be approved via a 51-vote majority in the Senate. However, any bill that is approved via reconciliation must focus only on budgets and spending levels.
Club for Growth also called for key changes to the bill.
“If this warmed-over substitute for government-run health care remains unchanged, the Club for Growth will key vote against it,” McIntosh said. “Republicans should be offering and full and immediate repeal of Obamacare’s taxes, regulations, and mandates, and end to the Medicaid expansion and inclusion of free-market reforms like interstate commerce.”
