Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said Friday he is opposing the Senate healthcare bill in its current form due in part to major cuts to Medicaid.

Heller is the fifth senator to announce his opposition to the bill as currently written, which spells doom for the bill unless changes are made. Senate leadership hopes to hold a vote as early as next week.

Heller said if the bill were brought up for a vote in its current form, he would vote against it. He also signaled support to keep the Medicaid expansion in place. The current bill phases out the expansion over three years starting in 2021.

"I cannot support a piece of legislation that takes away insurance from tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Nevadans," Heller said at a press conference in Nevada Friday alongside Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval.

Heller is one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents up for re-election next year. He added that GOP leadership knows how he feels and that "this is all about the Medicaid expansion."

"It is going to be difficult to get me to yes," he said. "You have to protect Medicaid expansion states."

Heller conceded it may be hard to get him on board and to also please conservatives. The other people who can't support the bill are conservatives Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.

He noted that protecting the Medicaid expansion states is going to be a very difficult lift "because I can see the other side is gonna have problems with that, the Ted Cruzes and Mike Lees."

GOP leadership doesn't have a lot of time to sway Heller and the conservatives before a planned vote next week. Heller said the earliest he could vote on the bill is a procedural vote on Tuesday, and that if the bill isn't changed by then he will be a no.

Heller then took aim at the underlying arguments that the GOP is using to pass the bill: that it will lower premiums.

"The biggest lie in healthcare in the last 10 years was if you like your doctor you can keep it," he said, referring to former President Obama's statement. "Here is the second biggest lie: If this bill passes, the biggest lie is your premiums are going down." (Source: The Washington Examiner)

Story Date: June 24, 2017