Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Wednesday afternoon announced that he cannot support the revised and yet-to-be-revealed Senate Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare as of right now, complaining that legislation will boost spending on subsidies and keep some Obamacare taxes.
“We’ve had time to hear what’s going to be in the new bill, and as far as I can tell, the new bill is the same as the old bill except for it leaves in place more taxes, increases taxpayer subsidies to buy insurance, and adds about $70 billion to the insurance bailout superfund,” he told reporters on a conference call. “I don’t see anything in here really remotely resembling repeal. And I’ve said for some time now that the bill has to looks more like repeal to get my vote.”
“I can’t support it at this point,” Paul said.
Paul said that he has sent requests to Senate GOP leadership for changes to the bill, but he did not specify what those requests were. He instead pitched passing a bill repealing Obamacare, and then allowing Republicans to work with Democrats to pass bills that contain the “big government spending items.” He said that an initial repeal would not need to be a clean repeal, but that he believes he could find certain aspects of Obamacare that the majority of the Republican caucus agrees on nixing.
“I guarantee that on repeal, Susan Collins and I have common ground,” he said, referencing the more moderate senator from Maine who opposes the deep cuts to Medicaid in the Senate repeal bill.
Paul was also not convinced that an amendment to the bill proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) could win over his vote. That proposal would allow insurers to offer plans that do not comply with Obamacare standards as long as they offer one compliant plan. Paul said that he liked that the proposal gives insurance companies more “freedom.” But he warned against the tweaks needed to address the likelihood that the proposal would lead to adverse selection — healthier individuals would opt for cheaper plans, leaving sick Americans purchasing the more expensive plans. Sick Americans would then need large subsidies to be able to afford the more robust plans, and Paul said this amendment would lead to “a lot more money in the insurance bailout fund.”
Shorter Paul: Gimme, gimme, gimme…
I have a reasonable proposal. Republicans should propose a tax credit for anyone who opts out of care for a family member—child or ailing parent—whose lifetime care costs would be likely to go over $100,000.
The tax credit could be scaled to the probable cost of the care they eschew.
I don’t know how the mechanics would work but in principle this is a bill every Republican should love.
Maybe $50,000 lifetime care, on second thought.
Gene pool stuff, you know.
Hmmm… maybe add a tax credit for abortion in case of serious genetic defect. Putting a pro-abortion plank will get some Democrat votes.
If Heller, Capito or Portman remain a no…
Paul can’t vote for this bill, or any bill, under any circumstance. Sure, he’ll claim it’s because of his batshit principles but the real reason is because his highest vote totals come out of the counties in KY most dependent on the Medicaid expansion. Talk about political theater. This is political theater.
Blah, blah, blah. There is so many caveats attached to his statement as to make it meaningless.
Is Rand Paul willing to be the 1 vote that would stop the this bill from passing the Senate? In not, and I don’t believe for a moment he is, then he doesn’t oppose it.
Which GOP Senators are willing to be that 1 vote? That is how McConnell is counting votes.