It looks like Ted Cruz is a solid ‘yes’ for the health care bill draft that came out today:
Ted Cruz says he's a yes on the bill as long as it retains his amendment.
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) July 13, 2017
Ted Cruz is supportive of the revised health care bill in its current form. (Further changes could, of course, alter his position)
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) July 13, 2017
Here’s more:
WASHINGTON EXAMINER – Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, announced Thursday that he will support the Senate healthcare bill in its current form after a new draft included a new version of an amendment he’s been pushing.
Cruz said that he will vote “yes” on a motion-to-proceed vote Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., hopes to bring to the floor early next week.
The proposal would create a fund that would help insurers cover those with higher medical costs, but to qualify, insurers would have to offer at least one plan that fully complies with all of Obamacare’s regulations. Once they do that, they would be able to offer additional plans that do not meet all of Obamacare’s requirements, thus providing cheaper options to younger and healthier individuals.
The provision is an updated version of an amendment originally proposed by Cruz and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.
“I think this new bill represents a substantial improvement over the previous version, and there are several changes that significantly improve our ability to reduce premiums,” Cruz said.
Cruz points out that he’d obviously prefer a full repeal, but there just aren’t the votes for that:
Cruz: "I would prefer a total repeal. Unfortunately we don’t have the votes." Who is this man and what did they do with Ted Cruz?
— Ali Rogin (@AliABCNews) July 13, 2017
Unfortunately that is the true dilemma here and it was clear it was going to be this way after the House Republicans refused to repeal in the first place. There just aren’t enough conservatives in the House or the Senate to push the RINOs to do what they promised, and now they are dragging all Republicans down with them.