A GOP holdout on the Senate healthcare bill says she would willingly torpedo legislation if it comes down to "that one person" needed for passage of a bill that targets "a vulnerable population."
In an interview with Politico, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said, "I only see it through the lens of a vulnerable population who needs help, who I care about very deeply."
"[T]hat gives me strength," she told the outlet. "If I have to be that one person, I will be it."
The first-term senator – who represents a deep-red state President Donald Trump won by big margins – has become one of the firmest holdouts against Senate Republicans' healthcare overhaul, voicing concerns about the consequences for older Americans and funding cuts for a Medicaid program that has played a key role in combating the state's opioid epidemic, Politico reported.
According to the Congressional Budget Office analysis, 22 million more people would lose their health insurance coverage over the next 10 years under the Senate GOP's bill than if Obamacare remained in place.
In 2015, West Virginia had the highest rate of fatal drug overdoses in the nation, Politico reported.
She says it is too tough to say what the reform effort will ultimately look like.
"I think that remains to be seen," she told Politico. "That's the eye of the needle, and I think it's being tried to be threaded. But I'm not sure."
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