In a joint conference call earlier this afternoon, Sen. Warner said that Americans have gotten “at least a brief reprieve” from the Senate GOP health care bill, which Warner calls “maybe one of the worst pieces of legislation I have ever seen.” Warner added that he didn’t think any Republican-only tweaks to this bill would solve its fundamental problems. Warner said he hoped that “after the fiasco of this week” and the “universal rejection of their current proposal” that they’d “come back and restart the process and do this in a way that gets full airing.” Warner said he doesn’t think Republicans are “heartless” (based on…???), but simply haven’t had time (why not?) to sit down with families who would be harmed by Trumpcare.
Sen. Kaine said this bill would have been “very tough” on states like Virginia, particularly with regard to harsh Medicaid cuts. Kaine added that the “bill was bad because the process was bad,” including not having hearings, only doing this with Republican votes, crafting it in secret, etc. Kaine said he hopes Republicans will commit to a “full process, where they put these bills before committee[s]” and “work in a bipartisan way to improve healthcare.” Kaine reminded everyone that Trump promised that nobody would lose coverage, nobody would pay more, Medicaid wouldn’t be cut, “nobody gets kicked around because of preexisting conditions.” Kaine noted that Democrats are happy to work with Republicans to improve the Affordable Care Act, but that Republicans haven’t been interested — “what are [Republicans] afraid of?”
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