Heritage Action Urges Members To Vote ‘NO’ On GOP O’Care Repeal Bill

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., departs after speaking to the media after a Republican caucus meeting on Capitol Hill, Thursday, March 23, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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The conservative advocacy group Heritage Action reiterated Thursday night that it opposes the House GOP bill to repeal Obamacare and will urge members to vote against it on Friday.

In a statement, the group said of the American Health Care Act: “[T]he most important part of the AHCA is what it fails to include: a repeal of the regulatory architecture of Obamacare that is responsible for the rising cost of health care.”

“Lawmakers cannot preserve Obamacare’s regulatory structure and claim to have repealed the law,” the statement continued later. “Without including the repeal of these regulations in the AHCA, congressional Republicans will have failed to keep their seven-year old promise to fully repeal Obamacare and health insurance costs will likely continue to increase leading up to the 2018 elections.”

The group, which opposed the initial version of the AHCA and re-upped that opposition on Tuesday, is one of a slew of conservative organizations that argue that the bill too closely resembles Obamacare.

Multiple outlets reported Wednesday that two Koch brothers-funded groups, Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Partners, had established a “seven-figure” fund to support Republicans who vote against the bill.

Though House Republican leadership and the White House have pushed in recent days to wrangle both the moderate and conservative wings of the party behind the bill, it was unclear Thursday night whether the bill had enough votes to pass the expected Friday vote, which already had been delayed from Thursday.

“We have been promising the American people that we will repeal and replace this broken law because it’s collapsing and it’s failing families and tomorrow we’re proceeding,” House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said in a curt statement to reporters after a full conference meeting Thursday night.

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