Bill Kristol on GOP healthcare bill: ‘What’s the point?’

Conservative commentator Bill Kristol on Tuesday questioned why House Republicans are pushing ahead with their bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

The health care bill doesn’t
a) lower costs,
b) improve insurance,
c) increase liberty, or
d) make health care better.
So what’s the point?

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 21, 2017

Kristol predicted earlier this month that the bill would collapse without ever receiving a House vote.

“It’s going to fall apart,” Kristol said during a March 9 appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “There will not be a vote for it.”

Kristol is an outspoken critic of President Trump and the founder of the conservative Weekly Standard.

Trump earlier Tuesday warned Republicans they could lose their seats — and the House majority — in 2018 if they fail to repeal ObamaCare.

“I believe many of you will lose in 2018,” he told rank-and-file House Republicans during a closed-door meeting in the Capitol basement, according to a source there.

{mosads}“He told us if we don’t pass this bill on Thursday, it will put everything in jeopardy that he wants to do, his agenda,” Rep. John Duncan Jr. (R-Tenn.) told The Hill after leaving the meeting.

The House is slated to vote on the American Health Care Act on Thursday.

Trump’s visit to Capitol Hill was billed as a rally for the healthcare bill, which faces a tough vote in the House and an even tougher one in the Senate, should it arrive there.

The president singled out Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) Tuesday after the House lawmaker said his conservative group’s votes could block the legislation.

“I think Mark Meadows will get there too,” Trump told listeners. “Because honestly, a loss is not acceptable, folks.”

“Oh Mark, I’m coming after you,” he added, sparking laughter from those in the room. “I hope Mark will be with us in the end.”

GOP leaders cannot afford more than 21 defections in the House during Thursday’s vote and only two in the Senate should the AHCA reach the upper chamber.

Eighteen House Republicans currently oppose the controversial bill, according to The Hill’s Whip List, while five senators are presently against it.