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Sen. Rand PaulRand PaulThree more GOP senators announce opposition to healthcare bill Rand Paul: Trump 'open to making bill better' Senate GOP delays ObamaCare repeal vote past recess MORE (R-Ky.) will meet with President Trump on Tuesday afternoon as GOP leadership aims to shore up the votes to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

A spokesman for the Kentucky Republican confirmed the White House meeting, which Paul also tweeted about.

I'll discuss w/ him how to fix bill & get more to a YES on real repeal, things I've tried to tell Senate leaders with no result so far

Paul has been a vocal critic of the Senate GOP's healthcare bill. He told reporterson Mondaynight that he would vote against an initial procedural hurdle that could come as early as Tuesday.

Asked if that meant he would vote "no" on the initial motion to proceed, Paul said, "absolutely," adding that leadership doesn't currently have the votes it needs.

Paul's meeting comes as GOP leadership is stepping up its efforts to win over opposing senators.

Sen. Ted CruzTed CruzThree more GOP senators announce opposition to healthcare bill Senate GOP delays ObamaCare repeal vote past recess Club for Growth opposes Senate ObamaCare repeal bill MORE (R-Texas) huddled in Majority Leader Mitch McConnellMitch McConnellMore than 300 abuse victim support groups oppose GOP healthcare bill Dem lawmaker: GOP healthcare battle is like the Titantic Behind closed doors, tensions in the GOP MORE's (R-Ky.) office for roughly 45 minuteson Tuesday. Vice PresidentPence is also reportedly hosting a handful of conservative senatorson Tuesdaynight.

McConnell has a narrow window for passing their healthcare legislation, which he wants to move before theJuly 4 recess.

With 52 GOP senators, he can only afford to lose two seats and still rely on Pence break a tie.

So far, four GOP senators including Paul have said they will vote to effectively block the Senate from taking up its legislation on a procedural motion.

A spokesman for Sen. Mike LeeMike LeeThree more GOP senators announce opposition to healthcare bill Senate GOP delays ObamaCare repeal vote past recess Club for Growth opposes Senate ObamaCare repeal bill MORE stopped shorton Mondaynight of saying the Utah Republican would vote against proceeding, but stressed that changes needed to be made to win his vote.

"There would have to be changes in the base bill for us to vote for a motion to proceed," he said.

According to ABC News reporter Ali Rogin, Trump called Lee on Monday and hell dine with Pence on Tuesday night.

POTUS called Sen. Mike Lee yesterday to talk healthcare. Spox called it "positive call." Lee will also dine with VP Pence tonight.

Original post:
Rand Paul, Trump to meet Tuesday - The Hill

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made an argument on Tuesday that sounded a whole lot like support for a nationalized health insurance system.But when OutFront host Erin Burnett called him on it, Rand not only backtracked, he compared national health care to forced labor camps in the former Soviet Union.

Paul said buying insurance as an individual was expensive, but suggested allowing individuals to join group policies to get a way out of that individual conundrum.A big group he said, had the leverage to demand more complete coverage at lower prices.

So why not go for the biggest group of all and just have insurance for everybody? Burnett asked.

Socialisms not a good idea, Paul responded. Socialisms an utter failure.

He then pointed out the problems in Venezuela, a socialist nation that is currentlysuffering an economic collapse.

But you did just make a great argument for nationalized health care, Burnett said. You said the bigger the group, the lower the cost, so all Im taking is your argument to its logical conclusion.

Paul wanted nothing to do with that one.

I was talking about voluntary groups, he said. Not the gulag.

See the full discussions above.

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Rand Paul Just Compared Nationalized Health Care To 'The Gulag' - HuffPost

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said after speaking with President Donald Trump Tuesday he thinks its possible for the Senate to come together on an Obamacare repeal bill members across the conference can support.

Paul one of the most vocal critics of The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 said he and the president have a similar approach to things, and he believes he would like to see more of the Affordable Care Act repealed than the Senates working draft currently accomplishes.

The Kentucky conservative has been adamant throughout Republicans repeal efforts that the party needs to make good on their promise to constituents to do away with Obamacare a feat he doesnt think the House or Senate measures truly accomplish. Paul said he laid out a number of different ideas he has to make improvements to the legislationand plans to do the same for leadership.

I think the current bill doesnt adequately repeal Obamacare. It keeps too many of the regulations. It keeps too many of the subsidies, and then it creates a new federal subsidy for insurance bailouts, he told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview Tuesday. So I think the bill can get better, but we talked about ways to make it better and Im sending him a letter and his staff this afternoon and Senate leadership a letter of specific things I think we can do to make it better.

Paul was one of several Republicans in the upper chamber to voice his concerns over the lack of transparencyduring the Senates process of crafting the bill, having called for additional time to conduct negotiationsand review the text. The pushback came much to the dismay of Senate Republican leadership, who were forced to delay their vote on the motion to proceed due to a lack of votes which they hoped would have taken place before August recess.

He said he thinks the current impasse is a good thing, adding they have reached a point where those dissenting will now have influence in the process.

Ive been saying for months now if you get to impasse, come back and talk to me Im open to discussion. But I think you have to prove that there are enough votes to be at impasse. If they have enough votes, no one cares about your opinion, he continued. If there arent enough votes to pass it and they really want to pass it, now all of a sudden more people do care about your opinion.

Paul said hes laid out his vision for the bill to his Senate colleagues and thinks its doable to complete negotiations in coming weeks.

Ive spoken at the policy lunch probably a dozen times over the last few weeks, he said. So, I think people know where Im coming from, and its just a matter of whether or not there are enough of us to, I guess, influence the bill towards becoming more of a repeal bill.

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Rand Paul Says He Thinks Senate Can Pass Obamacare Repeal Bill Before August Recess - The Daily Caller

Sen. Rand Paul said Friday that the Republican health care bill is an insurance bailout, which he doesnt support.

My problem is insurance companies already make $15 billion a year. I dont think the taxpayer should give them any money. So Im really opposed to giving money and saying will you lower your prices. I mean we could do this with cars. New cars are expensive. Why not have a new car stabilization fund? Mr. Paul said on MSNBC.

Mr. Paul, a physician, said the main problem with health care is that the consumer is disconnected from the product.

The reason capitalism doesnt work in health care is the consumer is disconnected from the product. Consumers do not make decisions based on price in health care except for a few exceptions, he explained. When you connect with the consumer, and the consumer cares about the price, guess what? The consumer will shop. And when the consumer shops, competition works. But were not really doing that in health care.

Mr. Paul said the current Republican plan only repeals two of Obamacares regulations, which he argues will not drop the price of insurance enough to be affordable.

He did say he believes that, like Obamacare, members of Congress will be mandated to sign up for the Republican plan if it passes.

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Rand Paul: Republican health care plan is an insurance bailout ... - Washington Times

"So far the Senate leadership is not negotiating with our office," Paul said in an interview on CNN's "Newsroom." "I'm trying to negotiate with the President, but really the President is going to have to tell leadership it's going to have to negotiate with some of us who don't see this bill as being good for the country."

Three more Republican senators -- Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio and Mike Rounds of South Dakota -- have expressed concerns about the bill; and four others -- Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia -- have made specific demands for changes.

To pass the bill, the GOP can lose only two senators.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not immediately respond to request for comment.

"I think it's a lot to digest in one week, not only to read the bill, but we don't even have the CBO score until this afternoon," Paul said.

Paul said he thought the bill would keep too many provisions of the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature health care law, in place.

"We keep 10 or 12 of the Obamacare regulations," Paul said. "I'm concerned that the death spiral of Obamacare may get even worse in the Republican version."

The Kentucky senator told CNN in a separate interview that he would not support the bill until he is convinced it would actually lower premiums.

"He keeps a close watch on his fellow senators and makes observances about what they need," Holmes said.

When asked Monday what he thinks of a potential vote Tuesday on a motion to proceed to the bill, Johnson expressed skepticism.

"If leader McConnell says failure is not an option, don't set yourself up for failure," he said.

CNN's Lauren Fox contributed to this reporting.

See more here:
Sen. Rand Paul: 'Senate leadership is not negotiating with our office' - CNN