Koch Network Says Republican Health Plan Doesn't Go Far Enough

Leaders from the influential Koch political network expressed concern Saturday about the Senate Republican plan to reshape the nation’s health system, saying as they met with donors at a Colorado resort that the measure isn’t sufficiently conservative.

“We’ve been disappointed that movement has not been more dramatic toward a full repeal or a broader rollback of this law, Obamacare,” Tim Phillips, the president of the Koch-affiliated political advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity, told reporters.

“We worked to make the House bill better and it did get better,” he said. “We’re doing the same thing on the Senate front.”

Unveiled on Thursday as a discussion draft after weeks of work done in secret by a small number of lawmakers, the Senate plan was immediately criticized by Democrats and some Republicans. Five Senate Republicans have said they oppose the bill in its current form.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can only afford two defections from his party.
Opposition from the Koch network, which has delivered tens of millions of dollars to Republican candidates and causes in recent years, promises to further complicate the perilous path McConnell faces in trying to meet his goal of passing the bill this month.

“We still think this can get done,” Phillips said. “It has to get better.”

Phillips spoke on the first day of a three-day donor retreat at a luxury Rocky Mountains resort.