Republican leaders were unable to sway a key figure in the moderate pool of Republicans to support the GOP bill to replace Obamacare.
Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., said in a statement late Wednesday he has chosen to oppose the American Health Care Act after an hours-long meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan, who sought to convince him to support it.
“After careful deliberation, I cannot support the bill and will oppose it,” he said, adding that the bill in its current form leads to a loss in coverage and makes insurance too unaffordable.
NEW: @RepCharlieDent, leader of the moderate GOP Tuesday Group, says he’ll oppose the health care bill. pic.twitter.com/zeklhWazFA
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 23, 2017
The announcement comes after the White House negotiated with the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which has also expressed opposition to the bill. While Republican leaders are weighing changes to the bill in order to win over conservative support, they run the risk of losing moderate Republicans.
The House is currently scheduled to vote on the bill Thursday.
