Hickenlooper, Kasich to discuss opposition

Gov. John Hickenlooper will join Ohio Gov. John Kasich in Washington on Tuesday to brief the press on their opposition to the Senate GOP health care bill.

The news conference is the latest in a string of joint efforts by the Colorado Democrat and the 2016 Republican presidential hopeful to call for a bipartisan approach to health care reform.

“All Americans will come out on the losing end if we simply replace one divisive plan with another, having failed to find a bipartisan solution to bringing lasting reform that can be sustained across administrations,” the pair wrote in an op-ed published last week in The Washington Post.

The duo also appeared on CNN together after coauthoring a letter to Senate leaders expressing their concerns with Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

The news conference is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. MDT on Tuesday at the National Press Club.

The joint briefing comes as the Senate is barreling toward a self-imposed deadline to vote for the Better Care Reconciliation Act by the end of the week.

For Hickenlooper, the appearances on the national stage with a former Republican presidential candidate will do little to quell talk of a run for president in 2020. He’s long been considered a potential candidate for higher office, and in 2016, he was vetted as a potential running mate to Hillary Clinton.

The visit to Washington means Hickenlooper will cut short his appearance at the Western Governors’ Association, which is holding its annual meeting this week in Montana.

While Hickenlooper is in D.C., the AARP and a coalition of major national health care organizations will have their own event in protest of the Senate bill Tuesday at the Capitol. That event, which features the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, among others, is set for 10 a.m. in the Capitol foyer.