White House legislative affairs director Marc Short said Sunday the GOP’s latest attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare is “not dead” as the Trump administration applies pressure to win over the support of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
“Rand Paul’s been certainly someone who’s been very principled on healthcare and we hope we can earn his support,” Short said on “Fox News Sunday,” singling out the physician who has been a vocal critic of Obamacare.
Short added he was confident Paul would vote for the Graham-Cassidy healthcare proposal because it provides “real entitlement reform,” gets rid of individual and employer mandates, as well as “protects the sanctity of life.”
Sens. Rand Paul, John McCain, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins have again become decisive Republican votes on the plan, given staunch Democratic opposition to an Affordable Care Act overhaul.
But Short said major concessions would not be given to those who remain uncommitted to the bill.
“I don’t think there’s significant changes, Chris,” Short said to host Chris Wallace. “We have been continuing to talk to various senators, not just Collins and Murkowski, about ways to refine the formula because what we are actually doing, as you know, is we’re talking dollars out of Washington, D.C., and sending it out to the states.”
Short batted back criticism over Graham-Cassidy’s coverage of pre-existing conditions, saying adequate and affordable healthcare are to be guaranteed.
Short added Trump was also focused on tax reform with an announcement expected on Wednesday about the elimination of deductions usually taken advantage of by wealthy Americans.
