For some conservative lawmakers, GOP healthcare bill is 'ObamaCare by a different form'

Rep. David Brat with Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

House Republicans finally released their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and several conservative lawmakers aligned with the Freedom Caucus are not impressed.

The bill, dubbed the American Health Care Act, offers health care tax credits and continues Medicaid expansion for three years, among other provisions. "This is ObamaCare by a different form," Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the former chairman of the Freedom Caucus, told Politico. "They're still keeping the taxes in place and Medicaid expansion, and they're starting a new entitlement." The Freedom Caucus' current chairman, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-S.C.), said on Fox News the biggest concern he has is if the bill will lower health care costs, and "until we get that answer, we have to hold out judgment."

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On the Senate side, four Republican senators told Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday they will not vote for any ACA repeal bill that eliminates Medicaid expansion. In a letter to McConnell, Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Sen. Cory Gardner (Colo.), and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) said they "believe Medicaid needs to be reformed, but reform should not come at the cost of disruption in access to health care for our country's most vulnerable and sickest individuals." All four of the senators represent Medicaid expansion states.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.