Just a few hours after Senate Republicans were briefed on a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, a small group of GOP lawmakers sent a message to party leaders: Change the bill or it won’t pass next week.
Four conservative Republicans have banded together to oppose the legislation in current form, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who said it does not repeal Obamacare as the GOP has long promised to voters.
“In general, the bill’s going to have to look more like a repeal bill and less like we’re keeping Obamacare,” Paul said Thursday. “I heard people, I traveled the country. I heard other Republicans say ‘we’re going to rip it out root and branch’ thousands of times. This is not ripping it out root and branch. This is feeding the roots of Obamacare, putting a band-aid on it, throwing some more tax money at it and calling it a day.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the proposal does not achieve the key GOP goal of lowing health care premiums, which have spiraled upward under Obamacare.
“As currently drafted, this bill draft does not do nearly enough to lower premiums,” Cruz said. “That should be the central issue for Republicans – repealing Obamacare and making healthcare more affordable. Because of this, I cannot support it as currently drafted, and I do not believe it has the votes to pass the Senate.”
Republicans also complained about the timing. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., made the case that the GOP should slow down floor consideration.
McConnell is planning a vote next week, after ten hours of debate that are capped under special rules Republicans will employ to pass the proposal with just 51 votes.
“I don’t see how I can get the information I would need to get to yes within a week,” Johnson said.
The four conservatives are more than enough to block passage of the bill, which will require at least 50 of the GOP’s 52 Senate Republicans.
Even without conservative qualms, the bill would likely falter thanks to complaints from the GOP’s moderate wing.
Sens. Susan Collins, of Maine, and Shelly Moore Capito, of West Virginia, said they have concerns with the legislation, which phases out Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion and raises insurance costs older people.
Collins “has a number of concerns,” and is awaiting a price tag from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, which will also determine the number of people who may not have health insurance coverage under the GOP plan.
Capito won’t commit to backing the bill yet and said she would first determine “whether it provides access to affordable health care for West Virginians, including those on the Medicaid expansion and those struggling with drug addiction.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has invited Florida officials to Washington “to help us formulate changes and amendments to this proposal,” his spokesman said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the bill would be open to amendments when he moves it to the floor next week. Republicans now face the dilemma of trying to please conservatives while at the same time keeping more moderate senators on board.
So far, the only GOP lawmakers who appear fully behind the proposal are the Republican leaders who were most closely involved in writing the 142-page draft.
“The draft health care bill released today will help stabilize markets that are already collapsing, improve the affordability of health care, preserve access to care for those with pre-existing conditions, and sustain Medicaid while also ensuring that those who rely on the program do not have the rug pulled out from under them,” Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters the legislaiton will be on the floor next week. Changes, he said, can be made through the amendment process but did not rule out making alterations before it ends up on the floor.
“People have other things they want to see in the bill, and that’s what we’re working on,” said Sen. John. Cornyn, R-Texas. “It won’t be finished until we vote on it.”
Thune suggested Paul would never come around to supporting the bill, which makes it less likely the GOP will try to appease him with changes.”I think that is gonna be challenging,” Thune said. “I am not sure that Rand will ever be there.”
Kimberly Leonard and Robert King contributed
