Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) new plan to push for a repeal of Obamacare without a replacement plan in place faced swift opposition on Tuesday, with several Republican governors coming out against the strategy.
Three Republican senators had already said that they would not support a motion to proceed on the new plan. A bipartisan group of governors, including five Republicans, then issued a statement warning against passing a bill that repealed Obamacare without a plan to replace it. They said that the Senate should pass health care reform on a bipartisan basis and take governors’ input into account in the process.
“Congress should work to make health insurance more affordable by controlling costs and stabilizing the market, and we are please to see a growing number of senators stand up for this approach,” the governors said in the statement. “The Senate should immediately reject efforts to ‘repeal’ the current system and replace sometime later. This could leave millions of Americans without coverage.”
“The best next step is for both parties to come together and do what we can all agree on: fix our unstable insurance markets,” they added. “Going forward, it is critically important that governors are brought to the table to provide input, and we stand ready to work with lawmakers in an open, bipartisan way to provide better insurance for all Americans.”
Among the Republican governors who signed onto the statement were Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, who could have influence on the Republican senators representing their states. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) has not explicitly come out against the repeal-and-delay strategy, but he seemed skeptical of that plan on Tuesday. Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) also said he was worried about how the repeal-and-delay plan could impact the health insurance market.
Proud of the 11 Republican and Democrat governors who have pulled together to share an important message on health care reform. pic.twitter.com/IcmUyM4m4g
— John Kasich (@JohnKasich) July 18, 2017
