For those interested in pressuring senators to oppose the BCRA, here is a list of “No” and “Undecideds” compiled by Huffington Post. A link to contact information appears at the bottom of the post.
Here’s a look at where McConnell’s conference stands on the legislation.
The Hill will be updating this list as Republican senators offer statements of support or opposition. Please send updates to mmali@thehill.com.
No (6)
Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) — The Maine centrist says she will not back a procedural motion on the bill after seeing the CBO score. “I cannot support a bill that’s going to make such deep cuts in Medicaid that it’s going to shift billions of dollars of costs to our state governments,” she said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” a day before the score came out.
Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) — In a statement Thursday, the conservative former presidential candidate said he opposed the bill. Cruz said the bill did not do enough to lower health costs. He has floated an amendment that would let insurers sell plans that are not compliant with ObamaCare requirements.
Sen. Dean Heller (Nev.) — Heller said Friday he opposed the bill, raising concerns about the phaseout of the Medicaid expansion. “It’s going to be very difficult to get me to a yes,” he said. Heller is viewed as the most vulnerable GOP senator up for reelection next year, so his vote will be closely watched. Heller has indicated he would vote against taking up the bill in a procedural vote without changes.
Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.) — Johnson on Thursday joined three of his colleagues in opposing the bill. He has expressed worries the bill doesn’t do enough to lower premium costs. On NBC’s “Meet The Press” Sunday, Johnson said “we should not be voting on this next week.” “I don’t have the feedback from constituencies who will not have had enough time to review the Senate bill.” He has also criticized GOP leaders for rushing the legislation and says he may not back a procedural motion unless the bill is changed.
Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) — The conservative joined Paul, Johnson and Cruz in a statement opposing the bill on Thursday. In a Friday blog post on Medium, he noted that conservatives have compromised on “every substantive question in the bill.” But added he hadn’t “closed the door” on voting for some version of it and would support it “if it allowed states and/or individuals to opt-out of the Obamacare system free-and-clear to experiment with different forms of insurance, benefits packages, and care provision options.”
Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) — Paul is McConnell’s home-state fellow senator, but he may be a hard get. He also says he’ll oppose the procedural motion. “The current bill does not repeal Obamacare. It does not keep our promises to the American people. I will oppose it coming to the floor in its current form, but I remain open to negotiations,” Paul said in a statement Thursday.
Undecided/Unclear (20)
Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.) — Cassidy won headlines when he talked about how the bill needed to pass a “Jimmy Kimmel test” on whether it would prevent children with pre-existing conditions from getting coverage. Cassidy told CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday he needed more time to consider the bill. “Right now, I am undecided. There are things in this bill that adversely affect my state, that are peculiar to my state, but if those can be addressed, I will. If they can’t, I won’t,” Cassidy said about his vote.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) — Capito has been involved in talks about the phaseout of ObamaCare’s federal funding expanding Medicaid. She’s also worried about how Medicaid cuts could effect the opioid epidemic. Like other senators, she said she would be reviewing the draft. She did not mention any concerns, but said she wanted to access to affordable healthcare for those on Medicaid and those struggling with drug addiction.Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) — Asked if he would support the bill, Corker told reporters it would “irresponsible” for lawmakers to take a position already, adding that “this draft we’re looking at is not necessarily the draft that’s going to be entered into the record” and could undergo “significant amendments.”
Sen. Steve Daines (Mont.) — “I look forward to hearing directly from Montanans on this legislation,” Daines said in a statement Thursday.
Sen. Joni Ernst (Iowa) — Ernst, who has not yet taken a position on Senate Republicans’ ObamaCare repeal and replace plan, is polling her constituents to gauge their feelings on the bill.
Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) — Flake, who is up for reelection in 2018, tweeted “just got my copy of the #healthcare bill and I’m going to take time to thoroughly read and review it.”
Sen. Cory Gardner (Colo.) — Gardner on Thursday said he was “carefully reviewing” the bill and called for more time. “If we can have opportunities to make the bill better, then by all means let’s take every chance and (all the) time we can,” he said, according to the Denver Post.
Sen. John Hoeven (N.D.) — Hoeven said in a statement that he “will review this legislation to determine whether it meets this standard and we also want to see a CBO score on the bill.”
Sen. Johnny Isakson (Ga.) — Isakson said in a statement that “I am fully and thoroughly reviewing the draft of the Republican health care plan that was released today. The stark reality remains that if we do nothing, Obamacare will fail, and Americans will suffer.”
Sen. James Lankford (Okla.) — Lankford told CNN that he has found six areas where he has “problems and suggestions,” adding “none of them are showstoppers … but there are problems we need to fix before we get this into law.”
Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) — “I think it’s a good proposal overall. I’m going to have to look at it,” McCain told reporters Thursday.
Sen. Jerry Moran (Kan.) — Moran said in a statement that he is “awaiting the Congressional Budget Office score to gain a complete understanding of the impacts and consequences this bill would have on hardworking Kansans.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — Along with Collins, Murkowski has suggested she might not back a bill that defunds Planned Parenthood. The Senate bill would block funding for a year.
Sen. David Perdue (Ga.) — “I’m looking at this thing. I’m not ready to say yes or no on it because I want to read this in detail,” he said.
Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio) — “There are some promising changes to reduce premiums in the individual insurance market, but I continue to have real concerns about the Medicaid policies in this bill, especially those that impact drug treatment at a time when Ohio is facing an opioid epidemic,” he said in a statement Thursday. The opioid crisis is a huge problem in Ohio, and Portman has worked with Capito to seek support through the GOP bill on this issue.
Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) — Rubio’s office said in a statement that “Senator Rubio will decide how to vote on health care on the basis of how it impacts Florida. He has already spoken to Governor Scott, Senate President Negron and Speaker Corcoran about the first draft of this proposal.”
Sen. Ben Sasse (Neb.) — On Sunday at a Koch summit, Sasse said he is not committed to the GOP’s ObamaCare repeal bill. Sasse told conservative donors the bill was “largely a Medicaid reform package,” according to Vox. “This is not a full repeal or full replace piece of legislation, and that’s dictated by a whole bunch of circumstances. So we are having a conversation about something that’s much smaller than that.”
Sen. Dan Sullivan (Alaska) — In a statement Thursday, Sullivan said he “will read every word” of the bill, looking closely at stabilizing the state’s insurance market, cutting costs and “providing a sustainable and equitable path forward for Medicaid.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) — Tillis said the Senate’s bill needs to be a “net improvement” over ObamaCare and “I look forward to carefully reviewing the draft legislation over the next several days.”
Sen. Todd Young (Ind.) — Young on Friday told a group in his home state of Indiana that he is in the undecided column, though he also repeated an earlier statement that “doing nothing is not an option.”
Contact information: http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/12/1671161/-Republican-senators-say-their-phones-aren-t-ringing-to-save-the-ACA-so-here-s-the-contact-list?detail=emaildkre