GOP senator expects a lengthy battle over ObamaCare repeal because 'the public wants every dime they can be given'

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published 9 May 2017

GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) told reporters Tuesday that Republicans' battle to repeal and replace ObamaCare will be tough because "the public wants every dime they can be given." The version of the American Health Care Act that was passed by the House last week and is now being negotiated by the Senate proposes rolling back some ObamaCare provisions, including the expansion of Medicaid in states.

"Let's face it, once you get them on the dole, they'll take every dime they can. We've got to find some way of getting things under control or this country and your future is going to be gone," said Hatch, who CNN noted is "one of the key Senate architects of the ongoing rewrite of the massive health-care law." Hatch is also the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has authority over Medicaid.

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) scoffed at Hatch's suggestion that "people who are getting access to health care" are "on the dole." "They are working families. They are, by circumstances most of us hope we don't get into, have a very seriously ill child or spouse," Murray said. "This is America. Certainly, we don't call people who need health care people who are on the dole."