Blumenthal, Murphy Slam GOP For Lack Of Transparency On Health Care Vote

Hartford Courant (CT)

July 25--With the Senate set to vote Tuesday afternoon to start debate on legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy slammed Republicans for their lack of transparency.

A procedural vote has been scheduled for 2:15 p.m., but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not said what health care bill will ultimately be voted on: the version that passed the House, one of several versions proposed in the Senate, or legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act without enacting a replacement.

"It's a mockery of democracy," Blumenthal said during a Senate Democrats media event on Monday. "It makes me ashamed to be a part of the United States Senate when we are going forward on a bill to proceed when we don't know what we are proceeding to."

Monday evening, Murphy was one of many Democrats who spoke on the Senate floor, making a final plea for Republicans to back off from their plans to repeal Obamacare and to work with Democrats to improve the health care law.

"It's gut-check time in the United States Senate," Murphy said. "The legislation that we're going to consider tomorrow, it would hurt a lot of people, in ways I think that are very hard to fathom."

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated the insured population would drop by at least 20 million if any of the various health care bills it has scored are signed into law.

Tuesday morning it was still unclear what the outcome of the procedural vote would be. Moderate and conservative Republicans alike have been critical of legislation that McConnell is pushing. Moderates have concerns about deep cuts to Medicaid funding for states, and conservatives are pushing for Obamacare to be undone entirely.