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Nicholson, Vukmir oppose Obamacare subsidy bill,
MADISON - Republicans challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said a bipartisan bill aimed at restoring insurance subsidies under Obamacare doesn’t do enough.
Businessman Kevin Nicholson and state Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Brookfield) made plain their opposition to a proposal from U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to keep the subsidies in place after President Donald Trump said he was ending them.
“I do not believe this deal goes far enough,” Vukmir said in a statement. “To earn my support, more conservative reforms need to be included to give relief to the many Americans suffering under Obamacare.”
Nicholson said at a Racine County Republican Party event Wednesday that health care proposals should improve competition, price transparency and the overall system the country has now. He said he doubted the subsidy bill by Alexander and Murray would do that.
“If it opens up the door to get there sooner, then I would entertain it. I don’t think these reforms do,” Nicholson said, according to audio from the event.
His spokesman, Michael Antonopoulos, added in a statement, “Rather than tinkering around the edges, Kevin believes we need to enact conservative reforms that improve price transparency, increase competition and lower premiums while safeguarding the quality of care for all Americans.”
Baldwin is a co-sponsor of the legislation by Alexander and Murray.
“The bipartisan agreement moves us in the right direction by beginning to help stabilize the market and improve our health system. But this is only a first step toward doing what needs to be done to lower costs and make health care more affordable in Wisconsin,” Baldwin said in a statement.
Trump initially made the subsidy payments begun by President Barack Obama to insurance companies that offered plans under the Affordable Care Act, also known Obamacare.
Trump announced last week he was ending those payments, which reimburse insurers for lowering the cost of their plans for low-income people. Alexander and Murray responded with their legislation continuing the payments for two years.