Rand Paul: Graham-Cassidy Health Care Bill ‘a Bad Idea’

President Donald Trump has proclaimed that he believes Sen.

At a Friday night rally on behalf of Alabama senator Luther Strange, who is facing a close primary runoff on Tuesday, Trump said McCain’s opposition to the new bill was “totally unexpected” and “terrible”. It would also change the open-ended entitlement structure of Medicaid, instead giving states money on a per-capita basis. But he is willing to hear out suggestions about how that aspect of the bill could be constricted. I don’t think block granting Obamacare makes it go away. “I’m for Trump, and if Trump’s for unusual, then I’m for odd”, he said. “He told me he would get me more numbers on the impact on the state of Maine and on the nation”.

Paul’s attempts to shrink the bill’s scope could present new challenges for the legislation, which moderate Republicans have been reluctant to back.

Still, the White House isn’t expected to lay off. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of ME, and the revised legislation may be released this weekend, Politico reports.

“Do they want to just give up and not do anything?”

“I won’t vote for Obamacare Lite that keeps 90% of the taxes & spending just so some people can claim credit for something that didn’t happen”, Paul said.

Republicans have only a slim Senate majority and can not afford to lose many votes on the bill, their latest attempt to dismantle a law that brought health insurance to millions of Americans and became former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement.

Paul’s turn in the spotlight and bid to steer the negotiations comes after Sen.

President Donald Trump also is backing the plan, the case for which, Johnson and other supporters say, is simple: it is Republicans’ last chance to repeal Obamacare. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “I’m very excited about it”.

Senators John McCain and Rand Paul already have expressed opposition. “But when you look at the bill, Rand, we save a lot of money over time for Medicaid. That’s a frightful message”.

Despite Trump’s tweets, efforts to pass Graham-Cassidy by the end of the month have stalled. “We can do it after September 30”, he said. “We are going to do it, eventually”.

Noel Deep, president of the Wisconsin Medical Society, said in a statement: “There are still far too many unanswered questions about the current proposal’s short- and long-term effects on health care coverage in Wisconsin”. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Sen.

A report by Politico suggests that the President has had phone conversations with Paul with regards to the bill, and he has twice mentioned Paul in recent tweets. “Find what they can live with, and you’ve got a narrower bill”. The same analysis shows other states would lose ground.

Analyses of the Graham-Cassidy bill by independent groups show both Alaska and ME would suffer significant reductions in federal funding for coverage subsidies, Medicaid expansion, and traditional Medicaid compared with current law. States that rejected the Medicaid expansion would gain $73 billion. Mike Lee, R-Utah, backs the GOP bill.

The Senate should heed his advice before acting on a measure opposed by the National Association of Medicaid Directors. This complicated passage in the 100-member Senate, where Republicans hold 52 seats and Democrats are unanimously opposed to repeal-and-replace measures.

Paul said the Graham-Cassidy measure “basically keeps most of the Obamacare spending, nearly all of the spending, and just reshuffles it”.

“I’m not willing to be bribed or do any kind of quid pro quo”, he said.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has already declared he is a “no” vote, while Republican senators Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, and Susan Collins, of ME, have both leaned strongly against the bill. “I have a number of serious reservations about it”.