Grothman votes to keep health bill alive
WASHINGTON - Despite his belief that his party’s plan to repeal Obamacare is “too expensive,” Republican Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin provided a critical vote Thursday to keep the embattled bill alive.
The measure championed by House Speaker Paul Ryan survived a vote in the House Budget Committee, passing 19-17. Three GOP conservatives voted against it. One more defection could have sidetracked the legislation.
“I think a lot of people feel this bill is not adequate. I think it’s too expensive,” Grothman said in an interview.
But Grothman said he voted for it with the understanding there will be a chance to modify it on the House floor.
“If we’re going to repeal Obamacare, we’re going to have to move to the floor,” he said.
Conservatives such as Grothman, of Sheboygan County, underscore the challenge Ryan and other GOP leaders face in getting the health care bill through two chambers controlled by their own party. Some Republicans on the right think the plan doesn’t go far enough in cutting costs and rolling back Obamacare. Grothman said the bill does too little to roll back Medicaid spending.
But moderates in the party think it goes too far. They not only oppose deeper cuts but would like to move the bill in the opposite direction.
Every Democrat on the budget committee opposed the measure Thursday.
GOP leaders hope to win House passage later this month but appear to lack the votes right now.
Wisconsin Democrat Ron Kind, who voted against the bill when it came before the Ways and Means Committee last week, said in an interview Thursday, “My guess is they won’t have the votes going in, but by the end they get (there) with knuckles, arms and legs being broken. I suspect it’s going to be a lot more difficult on the Senate side.”
Kind called the Republican legislation a “tax cut bill in the guise of health care reform,” said it gutted Medicaid and was being rushed through the House in the “height of legislative malpractice.”