New health bill draws criticism from governors

The suddenly resurgent Republican effort to undo the Affordable Care Act is dealt a major blow when a bipartisan group of governors came out against a proposal gaining steam in the Senate.

WASHINGTON — The suddenly resurgent Republican effort to undo the Affordable Care Act was dealt a major blow on Tuesday when a bipartisan group of governors came out against a proposal gaining steam in the Senate.

But it was unclear whether it would ultimately derail the attempt, as key Republican senators including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said they had yet to make up their minds.

The collective criticism from 10 governors arrived as Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to rally support for the bill, which is sponsored by GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Dean Heller of Nevada, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.

“We ask you not to consider the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson amendment and renew support for bipartisan efforts to make health care more available and affordable for all Americans,” the governors said in their letter.

They added that they prefer a bipartisan push to stabilize the insurance marketplaces that Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., have been negotiating.

Governors weigh in

The governors who signed the bill are particularly notable, since some are from states represented by Republican senators who are weighing whether to back the bill.

Among them: Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, who holds some sway over Murkowski, a potentially decisive vote who opposed a previous Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Nevertheless, Murkowski said Tuesday that she was still weighing her options.

On Tuesday, Pence traveled from New York, where he was attending the annual U.N. General Assembly, to Washington with Graham, in a public sign of the White House’s support for the measure.

“My message today is I want to make sure that members of the Senate know the president and our entire administration supports Graham-Cassidy,” Pence told reporters. “We think the American people need this.”

McConnell, however, declined to ensure a vote on the bill, but he said his team is working to secure sufficient support.

The current bill would give states control over billions in federal health care spending and enact deep cuts to Medicaid.

The Medicaid cuts are a major source of concern to the governors, both in terms of imposing a percapita cap on what states would receive as well as restrictions on how they could spend any federal aid on their expanded Medicaid populations.

Tax ban opposed

The fact that the bill would also bar states from taxing health care providers in order to fund their Medicaid programs posed a problem for several governors as well.

The governors who have been most outspoken in their criticism of the bill have been negotiating behind the scenes to bring as many state executives on board, according to aides, tweaking the language over the past couple of days to get the maximum amount of support.

Also among the governors signing the letter: John Kasich, R-Ohio, and Brian Sandoval, R-Nev. Sandoval’s positioning puts him at odds with Heller, who has been touting the bill as a co-sponsor.