Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich said he hoped the American Health Care Act (AHCA), passed Thursday by the House, would end up being a "much bigger bill" after the Senate debates the proposed legislation, Politico reported Sunday.
Kasich said his concerns were that the bill in its current form didn't provide enough for Medicaid patients and those with pre-existing conditions, in an interview Sunday with CNN, and maintained Republicans were "trying to fulfill a campaign promise" when they approved the bill.
"In the area of Medicaid, they are going to eliminate Medicaid expansion," Kasich said. "And, I cover in Ohio 700,000 people now, a third of whom have mental illness, drug addiction, and a quarter of whom have chronic disease."
Kasich explained the House bill would force those patients onto healthcare exchanges, where he said they could anticipate paying very high premiums and deductibles.
The Ohio governor also criticized "risk pools" the bill provides which people with pre-existing conditions could join to lower their costs, but said the $8 billion earmarked for the pools was "ridiculous," claiming "states will not opt for that."
Kasich called for a bill that would enable governors to have more flexibility in negotiating lower costs for drugs, but maintained there was no leverage in the current bill.
"I'm concerned about how this is going to affect people who find themselves in a very difficult position," Kasich said. "But for the grace of God go I, if I were in a position where I thought I was going to be able to not provide health insurance coverage to my family or to my friends."
He called for the Senate to make substantial changes in those areas when lawmakers debate the bill, saying, "I hope and pray that they are going to write a much bigger bill."
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