Rob Portman Says He'd Vote No on Senate Healthcare Bill in its Current Form

[image-1]Rob Portman was among the GOP Senators who hadn't publicly staked out his vote on the current version of the Senate healthcare bill that would, by estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, cause 22 million Americans to lose their insurance by 2026.

But hours after Senator Mitch McConnell announced a vote on the bill would be delayed until after the July 4th recess due to growing Republican opposition that left the GOP short of 50 yays Portman issued a statement confirming that as it stands, he'd be a no.

As I’ve said many times, the Affordable Care Act is not working for many Ohio families and small businesses. I am committed to creating a better health care system that lowers the cost of coverage, provides access to quality care, and protects the most vulnerable in our society. The Senate draft before us includes 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.

For months, I have engaged with my colleagues on solutions that I believe are necessary to ensure that we improve our health care system and better combat this opioid epidemic. Unfortunately, the Senate draft falls short and therefore I cannot support it in its current form. In the days and weeks ahead, I’m committed to continue talking with my colleagues about how we can fix the serious problems in our health care system while protecting Ohio’s most vulnerable citizens.

Of course, that's after the fact. Here's one version of why the announcement came after news of the vote being pushed back, via WaPo:

So why the delay? A spokesman for Moran didn’t immediately return requests for comment. Portman and Capito, who have been working on finding more funding to combat opioid addiction for months, were in talks Tuesday to make their opposition known before McConnell’s announcement and didn’t realize he was going to announce his intentions during the weekly GOP luncheon, according to aides to the senators who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the deliberations. Both camps said it was still important to express their opposition.

In other news, Portman says he wouldn't have drafted Johnny Manziel.