Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Monday blasted the bill submitted by two of his colleagues to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which he describes as "Obamacare Lite."
Paul, in an op-ed for Fox News, announced his opposition to the bill introduced by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
"I've voted for repeal. I've sponsored my own Repeal and Replace plans," he wrote.
"But I've also led the fight to stop and block 'Obamacare Lite' plans offered in both houses of Congress this year. These have been plans that have spent nearly as much money as Obamacare, that left most of the taxes and regulations in place, and basically failed to honor our promise of repeal.
"Unfortunately, they're back again, and I must add to the list of Obamacare Lite plans to oppose the new Graham/Cassidy bill that was introduced last week in the Senate."
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., also announced on Monday that he did not support the bill, telling reporters he wanted a more rigorous legislative effort.
Paul told reporters the same day that the Graham/Cassidy bill is "another incarnation of replace. I won't support it," saying that "two weeks ago I would have said zero. But now I'm worried" that there's enough support from the GOP for it to pass.
"In all ways, this bill is also Obamacare Lite," he wrote for Fox News. "In no way is it repeal the way we promised. I will oppose this bill as I did the other fake repeal bills, and I urge those who want repeal to do so, as well."
Paul points out that "Graham/Cassidy doesn't repeal a single Obamacare insurance regulation. All of the Title 1 rules, the Essential Health Benefit rules, all of them — they're still in place here."
He concludes, "to my colleagues, I say, 'No thanks.' This bill is no better than the last attempt and should receive no more support. It should not pass. I'll vote no, and I'll fight to stop the newest Obamacare Lite plan."
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