Some Republican governors that oppose the Senate healthcare bill are calling on the senators in their home states with their objections, which could cause difficulty for Republican leaders to wrap up the 50 votes they need to pass the legislation, according to The Hill.
When Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., announced that he opposed the bill, he stood with his state's governor, Brian Sandoval, who has favored the state's Medicaid expansion, The Hill reported.
"It's going to be very difficult to get me to a yes. You have to protect Medicaid expansion states," Heller said, according to The Hill.
Other Republican governors, Ohio's John Kasich and Arizona's Doug Ducey, have called on their senators to reject provisions in the bill that could lead to their states losing millions, The Hill reported.
Kasich has been a strong opponent of the bill, and has worked to protect Medicaid expansion.
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman understands Kasich's objections, telling The Hill: "I told him, 'if they hand you a few billion dollars on opioids… that's like spitting in the ocean,'" compared to the bill's billions in Medicaid cuts.
Ducey sent a letter to one of his Arizona Sen. John McCain, noting his concerns about slowing down Medicaid expansion and increasing Medicaid inflation adjustments.
"My own governor is extremely worried, because we're a Medicaid expansion state and we would lose a whole lot of money," McCain said Tuesday, according to The Hill.
"Medicaid must be able to pay for the real-world costs of providing care," Ducey wrote in the letter to McCain, according to Politico.
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