Less than 24 hours after House Republicans debuted the American Health Care Act, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told the Washington Examiner the bill was a “stinking pile of garbage.” Now, just hours before the House is set to vote on a modified version of the bill, Massie speculated the legislation’s conservative backers are caving to the insurance lobby.
In a Thursday interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” host Joe Scarborough incredulously asked Massie how any conservative could possibly support the AHCA.
“If you’re a conservative Republican and you’ve got a chance to reform Obamacare, why would any Republican vote for a bill that, as you said, doesn’t lower insurance rates, doesn’t really at the end of the day lower deductibles, it doesn’t really lower the cost curve of healthcare going into the future and it doesn’t bring free market forces into the healthcare system,” Scarborough wondered, “Why would any conservative vote for this bill?”
“Well, Joe, you’ve been on the Hill and you know how this place works,” Massie replied, chalking conservative support for the bill up to the influence of healthcare lobbyists.
“The insurance companies were the ones at the seat of the table when this bill was written,” he said, “That’s why everybody comes out worse except for the insurance companies if this bill passes.”
Clarifying that he’s “no conspiracist,” the Kentucky Republican explained, “They bring a lot of pressure to bear with the money that they contribute here on the Hill… You can probably confirm that that has a lot of influence on what happens up here.”
Earlier this month, Massie told the Washington Examiner, “The committee that’s writing this bill receives the most money from the health insurance lobbyists,” continuing, “In fact, probably everybody on that committee receives max checks from most of the health insurance companies, whether you’re Republican or Democrat.”
By most counts, somewhere between 25 and 30 House Republicans currently oppose the legislation. The House is expected to vote on the bill Thursday night.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
