Trump: Rand Paul ‘negative force’ on fixing health care

President Trump on Wednesday targeted Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for being a “negative force” on health care.
“Rand Paul is a friend of mine but he is such a negative force when it comes to fixing healthcare. Graham-Cassidy Bill is GREAT! Ends Ocare!” he tweeted.
“I hope Republican Senators will vote for Graham-Cassidy and fulfill their promise to Repeal & Replace ObamaCare. Money direct to States!”
Rand Paul is a friend of mine but he is such a negative force when it comes to fixing healthcare. Graham-Cassidy Bill is GREAT! Ends Ocare!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2017
I hope Republican Senators will vote for Graham-Cassidy and fulfill their promise to Repeal & Replace ObamaCare. Money direct to States!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2017
Paul has called the bill from Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) “ObamaCare lite” and said he wouldn’t support it.
The Graham-Cassidy bill seeks to give more power to states by converting money currently spent on ObamaCare’s subsidies and Medicaid expansion into block grants for states.
Earlier this week, Paul expressed concern that the Republicans’ latest attempt to repeal ObamaCare might pass.
“There’s a big groundswell of people pushing for this,” Paul told reporters on Monday. “Two weeks ago, I’d have said zero [chance it’ll pass], but now I’m worried.”
He said the bill “does not look, smell or even sound like repeal.”
“I’m kind of surprised this has been resurrected, because I don’t think it has been fully thought through,” he added.
He said the bill exists “mostly to take money from four Democratic states and redistribute it to Republican states.”
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) could decide the fate of the Republicans latest ObamaCare repeal effort.
The two were among the three Republicans, along with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who sunk the last GOP effort to repeal ObamaCare.
With Paul saying he is voting no and Collins thought to be a likely opponent, the bill would need either McCain or Murkowski to vote yes to pass, allowing Vice President Pence to break a 50-50 tie.
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