Dean Heller becomes 5th Republican to balk at health bill

Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada said Friday he cannot support the Senate health care bill as written, making him the fifth Republican to say he won’t vote for the Obamacare repeal plan unless it’s changed.

In a press conference, Mr. Heller said the draft plan released Thursday would pull the rug out from people who rely on Medicaid insurance for the poor.

More than 200,000 Nevadans were able to gain coverage after Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval accepted federal funding to expand the federal-state program under Obamacare.

“I cannot support a piece of legislation that takes insurance away from tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Nevadans,” Mr. Heller said.

He said he will not support a procedural motion to take up the bill Tuesday if it’s not rewritten.

Mr. Heller is considered the most vulnerable Republican in a 2018 election cycle that’s otherwise considered a safe one for the Senate GOP.

The senator said he is worried about phasing out President Obama’s Medicaid expansion and then capping federal funding for the underlying program, saying the one-two punch would erode Mr. Sandoval’s progress in caring for those seeking treatment for mental health problems and opioid addiction.

“It’s going to be very difficult to get me to a ’yes,’ Mr. Heller said.

His opposition to the draft plan is a new headache for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is trying to cobble together 50 votes for the bill from his 52-seat majority under fast-track rules that allow Republicans to avoid a Democratic filibuster.

Already, GOP Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin have said they cannot support the bill without changes, saying it preserves too much of Obamacare or they won’t be able to vet the bill before a potential floor vote next week.

Senate Democrats say they won’t let down their guard, fearing GOP leaders will be able to flip the doubters by cutting side deals with the holdouts.

Their campaign arm predicted that Mr. Heller would backslide on his opposition.

“Senator Heller is awfully good at taking marching orders from Washington, which is why he trotted out before the cameras to say he’s leaving the door open to supporting the Republican health care plan,” the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman David Bernstein said.

Mr. Sandoval preceded Mr. Heller by laying out his case against Medicaid cuts, saying the scale-down in funding would be “unsustainable” for his state budget.

The Republican governor also said it is unrealistic to think people making $16,000 per year could afford coverage in the individual market by leveraging a tax credit under the Senate plan.

“The current bill, as written, is something that needs to change,” Mr. Sandoval said.