Graham: Obamacare Replacement ‘Mortally Wounded’ – It’s Not a Good Bill

On Wednesday’s broadcast of NBC’s “Today,” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) stated that the American Health Care Act is “mortally wounded.”

Graham said the bill “is mortally wounded. I don’t know if it’s died yet. [Senator] Rand Paul (R-KY) will not vote for the House bill, because he believes refundable tax credits is an entitlement in another form. My state did not take Medicaid expansion. The House bill allows open enrollment for the entire country all the way through 2019 for Medicaid, which is fundamentally broken. I don’t like that. This is the last best chance for Republicans to pass healthcare by themselves, and screw it up. Here’s what I hope the president would do, try to get a good bill, if you can’t, let Obamacare collapse, and challenge the Democrats to help him fix a problem they created.

When asked if he thought the AHCA was a “good bill? Graham responded, “Not right now. Medicaid is not where I want it to be, and this thing will collapse, Obamacare will, under its own weight. And we’re trying to do too much too quick as Republicans. we’re running through stop signs like the CBO letter, much like President Obama did. Slow down, get it right. You’re not going to get 60 votes to buy insurance across state lines. That is a fantasy in the Senate. If you think that’s important to health care reform, it’s never going to happen in the Senate.”

(h/t Grabien)

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett