Rubio: Don’t rush health care vote
Republican senator expects process to take ‘days and weeks’
WASHINGTON — A Republican senator on Sunday warned against rushing a vote on a GOP bill to repeal and replace the nation’s health care law, saying both parties deserve a chance to fully debate the bill and propose changes after it was drafted in secret.
“The Senate is not a place where you can just cook up something behind closed doors and rush it for a vote,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. “So the first step in this may be crafted among a small group of people, but then everyone’s going to get to weigh in.”
His comments come as Senate Republicans are working hard to finalize legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act without a formal, open drafting session. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said he hopes to bring a bill to the floor for a vote within the next two weeks.
But Rubio said he believes the process could take longer and urged the Senate to slow down. These are striking comments from a Republican senator whose party is seeking to push through legislation without the help of Democrats.
President Donald Trump has been eager for quick action, although in a closed-door luncheon with 15 GOP senators last week, he described a House-passed bill as “mean.” Trump said he wanted the Senate version to be “more generous.”
“It is going to take days and weeks to work through that in the Senate,” Rubio said.
The bill passed by House Republicans last month would phase out in 2020 a Medicaid expansion to additional low-income people.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the House bill would cause 23 million people to lose insurance over a decade.