Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin listed every reason why he opposes the Senate Republican healthcare plan in a New York Times op-ed Monday.
The key issue the senator has with the measure is that the bill still allows the government to spend too much and fails to allow the private sector into the industry as much as a Republican repeal of the Affordable Care Act should.
“Our priority should be to bring relief, and better, less expensive care, to millions of working men and women,” Johnson wrote. “Unfortunately, the Senate Republican alternative, unveiled last week, doesn’t appear to come close to addressing their plight. Like Obamacare, it relies too heavily on government spending, and ignores the role that the private sector can and should play.”
The Republican argues that the goal of any healthcare plan should be to lower costs and work to improve the quality and access to care, while at the same time maintain the same level of innovation in the industry.
“Washington believes that the solution to every problem is more money,” Johnson said. “But throwing more money at insurers won’t fix the lack of consumer-driven competition, combined with government mandates that artificially drive up the cost of care and insurance.”
Johnson believes that any Republican plan “should return more flexibility to states, to give individuals the freedom and choice to buy plans they want without Obamacare’s reforms,” according to his op-ed.
The senator concluded by indicating that he is still very interested in working with members of Republican leadership on finding a solution to these problems.
“I look forward to working with Senate leadership and the president to improve the bill so it addresses the plight of the forgotten men and women by returning freedom and choice to health care,” Johnson said.
Johnson is one of five Republican senators who oppose the measure in its current form. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Dean Heller of Nevada have all openly opposed the measure.
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