In response to a new Politico report revealing that Sen. Heller is willing to vote for the toxic Republican healthcare plan, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Spokesman David Bergstein released the following statement:
“Senator Heller already said he’d ‘do everything’ he could to get to yes and tonight’s report shows he’s well on his way to backing a health care plan that will spike costs, make older Americans pay more and strip coverage for hardworking Nevadans in order to give big insurance companies another tax break. Senator Heller’s support for ending Nevada’s Medicaid expansion has already put him at odds with his own state’s Republican governor, and when Nevadans see their costs increase and their care slashed they will hold Heller accountable and vote against him.”
See also:
The Nevada Independent: Once upon a time there was a congressman….“The congressman from Nevada made some excellent points in a pointed news release. The issue? Congressional leaders working behind closed doors on the health care bill…Heller cosponsored H.Res.847: ‘Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that any conference committee or other meetings held to determine the content of national health care legislation be conducted in public under the watchful eye of the people of the United States.’”
The Hill: Healthcare vote puts Heller in a bind. “If Heller opposes the plan too loudly, he’ll expose himself to a primary election challenge. But if he’s seen as too close to it, he’ll lose the moderates who backed Clinton in 2016.”
Reno Gazette Journal: Heller faces increased pressure in run up to health care bill release. “As Republicans in the U.S. Senate prepare to unveil language on their bill to replace the Affordable Care Act, Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., is falling under increased pressure to reject many of the changes already passed by the U.S. House…As recently as Tuesday, Heller dodged a national political reporter’s question on the issue by saying ‘this paper in Reno will distort whatever I tell you.’”
Washington Post Right Turn: Things just got worse for the GOP’s weakest senator. “Heller is widely seen as the weakest Republican senator on the ballot in 2018, perhaps the weakest incumbent in either party. Recently he has reluctantly signaled his agreement to roll back Medicaid expansion over a seven-year period. However, in a state where Medicaid enrollment rose 90 percent since 2013 and the rate of uninsured residents dropped by 28 percent from 2013 to 2015, Trumpcare is going to be unpopular. Sure enough, according to one polling methodology, Nevada voters oppose the American Health Care Act by a 53 to 28 percent margin.”
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