Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) on Friday came out against the revised Senate ObamaCare replacement bill, urging Republicans to instead work with Democrats on a solution.
Kasich has been a strong defender of ObamaCare’s expansion of Medicaid in Ohio and pointed to the Medicaid cuts in the bill, which remain essentially unchanged from the initial version.
“The Senate plan is still unacceptable,” Kasich said in a statement. “Its cuts to Medicaid are too deep and at the same time it fails to give states the ability to innovate in order to cope with those reductions.”
{mosads}Kasich’s stance also puts pressure on his state’s Republican senator, Rob Portman, who is one of the key votes on the bill and remains undecided on the new version.
A bipartisan group of governors stands ready to work on a healthcare solution, Kasich said.
“These shortcomings flow from the fact that the Senate plan commits the same error as Obamacare—it’s not bipartisan,” he said. “It fails to bring solutions from both sides to the table that can ensure we aren’t simply replacing one divisive plan with another.”
The views of governors are key in influencing undecided senators. Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) is particularly important in influencing Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), who is up for reelection next year in a state Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election.
Sandoval said Thursday that his preliminary understanding of the new bill is that not much has changed, and therefore he is “greatly concerned” about it, according to CNN.
Two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Rand Paul (Ky.), have already said they will vote against proceeding with the bill next week.