Heller audio: I want to ‘get to a yes’ on Obamacare repeal
(Note: This first appeared on Politico Pro.)
By Kevin Robillard
04/14/2017 05:02 AM EDT
Nevada Sen. Dean Heller told a group of conservatives earlier this week he “will do everything I can to get to a yes” on repealing Obamacare and suggested he was withholding his approval of the GOP health care plan in Congress to get attention from the White House.
The comments were picked up by a tracker for the Nevada Democratic Party, who paid to enter the event at the Keystone Corporation, an organization of conservative Nevada business leaders. The group barred media members from the event and kicked out several protesters who paid to attend.
Heller, who may be the most vulnerable GOP senator facing reelection in 2018, opposed the Republican plan to repeal Obamacare last month. He told a group of liberal activists he met with in March that “not everything in the Affordable Care Act is bad” and said he believed “all Americans should have access to health care.” He had voted more than 20 times to repeal Obamacare in the House and Senate, and has successfully worked to delay the implementation of the “Cadillac Tax” on generous health insurance plans.
“I want this thing to go away,” Heller says at the meeting, referring to Obamacare. “I really do want to put this away. And I will do everything I can to get to a yes. But what I do want is an opportunity to talk with this administration about some of the concerns that I have here in the state of Nevada. If you’re always a yes, you can’t get their attention. You can’t get their attention.”
At another point, an audience members asks Heller about the Congressional Budget Office’s score of the GOP health care plan, which showed 24 million people losing insurance coverage over the next decade and prices spiking for some consumers. An audience member asks Heller if the insurance loss in his main objection.
“Not necessarily,” Heller responds. “My main objection is that I want to make sure that the governors are in the room when this is being discussed. That’s my main objection.” Nevada’s popular GOP governor, Brian Sandoval, is an ally of Heller’s and has been outspoken about the need to keep Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion in any GOP replacement plan.
Heller’s spokeswoman, Megan Taylor, pointed to the statement Heller released the night of the planned vote of the American Health Care Act. (House Republican leaders and President Donald Trump never put the bill up for a floor vote after it became clear it lacked votes to pass.) “Republicans and Democrats in Congress can agree that the status quo is unacceptable,” Heller said. “Unfortunately, the AHCA as currently drafted fails to address the skyrocketing costs of health care and protect coverage for those who are most vulnerable. Its lack of support today is a reflection of that.”
The Nevada Independent, a local politics site, first obtained audio of Heller’s meeting with Keystone. In that recording, Heller acknowledged he was “not a big supporter” of Trump during the 2016 election, but praised the administration as “pretty incredible.” He also said he was holding a town hall next week “one of those boxes you gotta check.”
He also lamented that Trump decided to attempt to repeal Obamacare first. “They should have gone to tax reform and transportation,” Heller said. “You put those two issues together because everybody is for transportation.”
At one point, an audience member pleads with Heller to “get s — — done in Washington.” The comment draws applause.
“Well said,” Heller responds. “Well said.”
