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While Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY) preen and showboat to force Trumpcare to the extremes, one very conservative senator has quietly stepped up to block their maneuver.
PALCO, Kansas — Jerry Moran is usually a reliable conservative in the Senate, who still boasts that he was the first member of Congress to introduce a bill that repeals Obamacare.
But here in this rural northwestern Kansas town, Moran stresses that coverage for preexisting conditions have to be protected. He rails against the decision by his own leadership to draft its Obamacare repeal measure almost entirely in private. The genial senator even steers away from derisively referring to the 2010 health care law as Obamacare, instead using its official term: The Affordable Care Act.
“I’m very interested in making sure preexisting condition is covered and I wouldn’t consider it covered if it could be taken away in some other fashion,” Moran said Thursday in a health-care dominated town hall. “Who in the room doesn’t have a preexisting condition? Don’t we all?”
Moran, a former chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, announced last week that he was opposed to the initial version of Trumpcare. This is a critical juncture in the negotiations for Moran to jump in, as Cruz is pushing his plan—which would effectively gut pre-existing condition protections—and House and Senate conservatives are lining up behind him. Moran's intervention at this point gives room for plenty of senators thought of as more moderate than him to oppose it. He's providing cover for Dean Heller (NV), Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Rob Portman (OH), all of whom oppose the various provisions of the bill because of the pain it's going to cause.
It's important to note that Moran's opposition is to what has been called a "discussion draft" of the bill—he's left himself the option of coming around to support it. But he's also pretty much laid down a line he doesn't want to cross of protecting people with pre-existing conditions. At this point, anything McConnell adds to the bill to do that, the far-right maniacs are going to oppose. McConnell's conference is splintering. Let's keep up the pressure on it.
All we need is three Republican senators to block Trumpcare. If you have a GOP senator, we need you to call their office at (202) 224-3121. Demand that they put their constituents above their party. After the call, tell us how the call went.