John Kasich on Senate Republicans' health care bill: 'Are you kidding me?'
WASHINGTON — Ohio Gov. John Kasich ripped Senate Republicans on Tuesday for crafting a health care bill that would cause an estimated 22 million Americans to lose their health insurance.
“They think that’s great? That’s good public policy?” an incredulous Kasich said at a news conference in Washington on Tuesday. “What, are you kidding me?”
Kasich was referring to an analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which estimated that the Senate GOP bill to repeal and replace Obamacare would increase the ranks of the uninsured by 22 million by 2026, compared to current law.
Hours after Kasich's remarks, Senate Republican leaders decided to delay a vote on their bill, essentially conceding they did not have enough GOP support to pass it. Five Republicans were already on the record opposing the bill, while several others were uncommitted.
That left Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., well short of the 51 “yes” votes he needed to get the bill through the Senate this week as he had initially hoped. McConnell said Tuesday that he now hopes to hold a Senate vote on a revamped bill after lawmakers return from their July Fourth recess.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, was publicly undecided on the bill until Tuesday, when he announced his opposition after McConnell agreed to yank it from consideration. Portman said he was "committed to continue talking with my colleagues about how we can fix the serious problems in our health care system while protecting Ohio’s most vulnerable citizens.”
Portman has expressed concerns that the GOP plan, as currently written, would hurt Ohio’s low-income residents and undermine the state’s efforts to expand addiction treatment amid the current opioid epidemic. He has pressed McConnell to add $45 billion for opioid treatment over 10 years, as a way to cushion the bill's changes to Medicaid, which has become a lifeline for addicts seeking treatment.
Kasich urged Portman not to support the bill even if McConnell agrees to beef up funding for opioid treatment, because that would not be enough to make up for the GOP bill's proposed cuts to federal Medicaid funding.
"I told him if they hand you a few billion dollars on opioids ... that’s like spitting in the ocean," Kasich said. "I've talked to Rob a million times. He knows exactly what my concerns are."
Kasich has made his opposition to the GOP bill clear before, but Tuesday he ratcheted up his criticism at a joint news conference with Colorado Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper.
Kasich said congressional Republicans should try getting their own health care through Medicaid or purchasing insurance with the miserly subsidies the GOP plan offers.
“Why don’t we have those folks go and live under … Medicaid for a while?” Kasich said. “Why don’t we have them go live on their exchange where they can get two, three, four thousand dollars a year to cover their health care exchange costs.”
Kasich didn’t reserve all his ire for his own party. He also blasted lawmakers of all stripes for acting like a bunch of fifth-graders.
“We have a health care civil war going on,” he said. “It’s all about recrimination.”
He said Republicans should jettison their current bill and “start over,” while Democrats should “stand and challenge the Republicans to negotiate with them.”
Democrats have said they would work with Republicans to fix Obamacare if they stop their efforts to repeal or gut the law.
Read more:
Senate health care bill would lead to 22 million more uninsured, CBO says
Health care bill winners (wealthy) and losers (Medicaid recipients), according to the CBO
Senate GOP leaders face growing opposition to health care bill