Former Rare Staff
Though the Senate voted to advance the Republican-backed American Health Care Act of 2017, which would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, three key Republican Senators declared their opposition to the current “skinny repeal” of Obamacare on Thursday afternoon.
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Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., announced that they will not vote if a “skinny repeal” remains at the heart of the AHCA. They criticized the bill for not fulfilling promises they made to their constituents about a full repeal of President Obama’s health care bill:
Sen. Lindsey Graham: "The skinny bill as policy is a disaster" and "as a replacement for Obamacare is a fraud" https://t.co/0xzE6QJoMP
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 27, 2017
“None of us believe it actually replaces Obamacare,” said Graham about the “skinny repeal,” eventually calling the legislation a “fraud.”
.@SenJohnMcCain: "It's time we sat down together and came up with solutions that the American people overall would support." pic.twitter.com/uupsWLNuBu
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 27, 2017
Additionally, the senators spoke of the need for both parties to work together toward a better health care policy for all Americans. “I believe that one of the major problems with Obamacare was that it was rammed through Congress by Democrats without a single Republican vote,” said McCain, who recently gave a speech on bipartisanship before his colleagues. “I believe we shouldn’t make that same mistake again.”
The “skinny repeal” is what many have considered a watered-down version of the initially proposed full repeal. It has been criticized for not addressing key provisions of the ACA that many Republican politicians promised to replace.
