Four GOP Senators: Obamacare Replacement Dead On Arrival Without Medicaid Protections

Four Republican senators on Monday announced that they would not support an Obamacare replacement bill that doesn’t include protections for Medicaid recipients. The four Senators are from states that have expanded Medicaid under Obamacare.

This means that the Obamacare replacement bill that the House plans to announce Monday night could be dead on arrival.

The four Republican Senators are: Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman, Shelley Moore Capito and Cory Gardner.

The four Senators sent a letter to Mitch McConnell on Monday informing him of their position, “We are concerned that any poorly implemented or poorly timed change in the current funding structure in Medicaid could result in a reduction in access to life-saving health care services,” the letter to McConnel said.

The letter continued, “The February 10th draft proposal from the House does not meet the test of stability for individuals currently enrolled in the program and we will not support a plan that does not include stability for Medicaid expansion populations or flexibility for states.”

By the way, Senate Republicans can only afford to lose two Republican votes in order to be able to pass the Obamacare repeal/replacement with 51 votes.