Three more Republican senators Tuesday came out against the healthcare plan — now totaling nine — after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pulled the legislation from a vote scheduled for later this week.
Those announcing their opposition Tuesday were Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Rob Portman of Ohio.
They joined six others who said last week that they would not support the legislation, crafted in secret by a 13-member working group: Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Ted Cruz of Texas, Dean Heller of Nevada, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and Mike Lee of Utah.
McConnell, of Kentucky, delayed the vote until the Senate's July recess after opposition grew as the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the GOP plan would leave 22 million more Americans uninsured in 2026 than under Obamacare.
"The Senate healthcare bill missed the mark for Kansans and therefore did not have my support," Moran, who is in his first term, said in a statement posted on Twitter.
"I am pleased with the decision to delay the vote," he added. "Now is the time to take a step back and put the full legislative process to work."
Portman, who was first elected in 2010, said in a statement with Capito that while Obamacare was "not working" for Ohio residents, "I continue to have real concerns about the Medicaid policies in this bill."
He pointed to the state's growing opioid epidemic and one area of concern.
"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," Portman said.
Capito, also serving her first term, said that the GOP legislation "will not ensure access to affordable health care in West Virginia, does not do enough to combat the opioid epidemic that is devastating my state, cuts traditional Medicaid too deeply, and harms rural healthcare providers.
"As drafted, the Senate healthcare bill is not the right fix for West Virginia, and I cannot support it," she added. "My concerns will need to be addressed going forward."
Collins, Maine's fourth-term senator, was among the others dissenters attacking the plan after McConnell announced his decision.
"I have so many fundamental problems with the bill that have been confirmed by the CBO report that it's difficult for me to see how any tinkering is going to satisfy my fundamental and deep concerns about the impact of the bill," she told reporters at the Capitol.
Lee, another second-term Republican, reiterated his longstanding criticism that the Senate bill included "hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts for the affluent, bailouts for insurance companies, and subsidies for lower-income Americans.
"But it ignored the middle-class families who have borne the brunt of Obamacare, and who have been left behind by both parties in Washington for too long.
"That's why I opposed it," Lee said in a statement. "And it's why I'm happy we postponed the vote today."
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