Conservative groups hammer Senate healthcare reform bill

Source: The Hill | June 27, 2017 | Alexander Bolton

Conservative advocacy groups that provide much of the political muscle for Tea Party-friendly lawmakers and candidates are coming out against the Senate healthcare reform bill, panning it as a disappointment.

These critics on the right say the legislation falls well short of the Republican promise to repeal ObamaCare despite Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) argument that it will fix an “unsustainable” status quo. 

“We’re saying it would be better named the ObamaCare Forever Act. We’re not happy with the bill as it is,” said Jon Meadows, a spokesman for FreedomWorks, a prominent conservative advocacy group.

Conservative groups say the legislation will do little to bring down premiums, bolstering senators such as Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who are holding out against the bill.

FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon said in a statement last week that the legislation “breaks” the promise McConnell made to conservatives to repeal the law “root and branch.”

Another conservative group, the Senate Conservatives Fund, on Monday said the Senate bill would “lead to higher premiums” and “hurt American families.”

“Mitch McConnell is leading his party into a box canyon that they will never escape. We hope Senate Republicans realize the mistake they are about to make and demand a bill that truly repeals ObamaCare and will reduce premiums,” said a spokesperson for the Senate Conservatives Fund.

The Club for Growth was still studying the bill as of Monday afternoon, but a conservative strategist predicted the group would come out against it.

The opposition from the right is not unanimous. Heritage Action, one prominent group, favors passage, while Americans for Prosperity wants lawmakers to make improvements.

Americans for Prosperity, which is backed by GOP mega-donors Charles and David Koch, did, however, call the Republican healthcare legislation a disappointment because it did not come close to full repeal.

It has stopped short, however, of calling for defeat of the bill, giving McConnell a glimmer of hope that he may be able to reverse GOP “no” votes.

“We’re disappointed lawmakers haven’t done more to improve healthcare, but we are committed to working with them to make progress,” said Brent Gardner, the chief government affairs officer for Americans for Prosperity.

GOP senators have to take the positions of the conservative groups into account because they could fund primary challengers against them in future elections.

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