Mediaboss Marketing

"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

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.

Read the original here:
Rand Paul: Republican health care plan is an insurance bailout ... - Washington Times

Sen. Rand Paul, one of the key Republicans senators in the ongoing health care battle, said on Sunday that his party has "promised too much" with trying to fix the health care system and assuring that the cost of premiums will be lowered.

They've promised too much. They say they're going to fix health care and premiums are going to down, Paul said on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" of his party's health care plan unveiled Thursday. "There's no way the Republican bill brings down premiums."

As an ophthalmologist with 20 years of experience practicing medicine, Paul argued, Premiums have never gone down. They're not going to go down after the Republican bill."

Paul added, "And it's a false, sort of over-promising to say, 'Oh, yes, insurance premiums are going to go down but we're keeping 10 of the 12 mandates that caused the prices to go up.' It's a foolish notion to promise something you can't provide.

As one of five Republican senators that announced opposition to the bill in its current form, Paul said he would consider voting for partial repeal of Obamacare, if theres a stalemate, but argued the Senate bill isnt anywhere close to repeal.

What we can do is if they cannot get 50 votes, if they get to impasse, I've been telling leadership for months now I'll vote for a repeal," Paul said. "And it doesn't have to be 100 percent repeal. So, for example, I'm for 100 percent repeal, that's what I want. But if you offer me 90 percent repeal, I'd probably would vote it. I might vote for 80 percent repeal.

Paul also proposed whittling down the current version of the bill to areas where Republicans have agreement, and tackling contentious issues later down the road.

If there's dissent on Medicaid, why don't we come back in six months and say, you know what, let's work with Democrats, Paul said. I think there's a bill that all 52 Republicans agree on if they keep narrowing the focus.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins, in an interview Sunday on ABC News' "This Week," said its hard for her to imagine the Senate health care bill passing this week.

As conservatives like Paul on the right say the bill doesnt do enough to repeal Obamacare, moderates like Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, express concerns that the bill put forward by senior leadership would harm the nations most vulnerable.

I want to wait to see the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] analysis, but I have very serious concerns about the bill, she told ABC News' Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos, referring to the non-partisan analysis of the legislations impact that is expected as early as Monday.

The Maine senator said she respectfully disagrees with White House Counselor Kellyanne Conways assessment that the Senate bill isnt a cut to Medicaid.

Based on what I've seen, given the inflation rate that would be applied in the outer years to the Medicaid program, the Senate bill is going to have more impact on the Medicaid program than even the House bill, she said.

See original here:
Sens. Susan Collins, Rand Paul express doubts about Senate health care bill - ABC News

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Friday that one key element that needs to be included in the Senate healthcare bill is a connection between consumers and healthcare providers.

Paul is one of four Republicans who have said he can't support the bill, in part because it doesn't do enough to lower prices for consumers.

He also said the way people shop for Lasik eye surgery is a good example of how prices can drop when consumers are more involved.

"The reason capitalism doesn't work in healthcare is the consumer is disconnected from the product," Paul said on MSNBC. "Consumers do not make decisions based on price in healthcare, except for a few exceptions."

"Lasik surgery, when you want to get surgery to get rid of glasses, everybody asks the price," said Paul, an eye surgeon. "The average consumer calls four different doctors. It's a very sophisticated laser, million dollar laser, and yet the price has gone down by three-quarters over 15 years."

"When you connect the consumer and the consumer cares about the price, guess what? The consumer will shop, and when the consumer shops, competition works," he said.

But he said consumers mostly face fixed prices in other areas of healthcare.

"We're not really doing that in healthcare," Paul said. "Most of healthcare has fixed prices. Medicare, fixed prices. Medicaid, fixed prices. And even private insurance, no consumer shops for price."

Paul and another opponent of the GOP bill, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have both suggested giving insurers the opportunity to offer cheaper plans that may not comply with Obamacare's strict rules as a way to lower prices for people.

More here:
Rand Paul: Lasik surgery shows health prices fall when consumers can shop - Washington Examiner

Sunday on ABCs This Week, while discussing the Republican health care bill, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he would vote for a partial repeal of Obamacare, but the current bill was not anywhere close to repeal.

Paul said, Ive been telling leadership for months now that I will vote for a repeal and it doesnt have to be a 100 percent repeal. For example, Im for 100 percent repeal, thats what I want, but if you offer me a 90 percent repeal, Id probably vote for it. I might vote for 80 percent repeal.

He added, Realize that the Obamacare subsidies in this bill are actually greater under the Republican bill than they are under the current Obamacare law. That is not anywhere close to repeal.

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

P.S. DO YOU WANT MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX?SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY BREITBART NEWSLETTER.

Original post:
Rand Paul: I Will Vote for 80-90% Repeal of Obamacare, GOP Bill 'Not Anywhere Close' - Breitbart News