New GOP health bill lacks the votes to passThe Hill, Jul 17, 2017, 08:37 PM EDT
GOP Sens. Jerry Moran (Kansas) and Mike Lee (Utah) announced on Monday night they will not support taking up a bill repealing and replacing ObamaCare, effectively blocking the legislation.
Their decision means Republicans in the Senate are well short of having the support to pass their legislation, and raises serious questions about whether President Trump will reach his goal of ending ObamaCare.
Moran and Lee both said the bill failed to do enough to lower premiums.
"This closed-door process has yielded the [bill], which fails to repeal the Affordable Care Act or address healthcare’s rising costs. For the same reasons I could not support the previous version of this bill, I cannot support this one," Moran said in a statement.
Highlighting the challenges faced by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Lee argued the measure is not conservative enough, tugging in the opposite direction from moderates.
More:
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/342447-two-more-gop-senators-defect-on-healthcare-bill