Ron Johnson Looking For More Time To Review Senate Health Care Bill

The U.S. Senate’s GOP majority has yet to go public with their plan to undue the Affordable Care Act. And as Wisconsin Democrats continue defending the health care law, Republican Gov. Scott Walker is calling on senators in his party to keep their campaign promise to repeal and replace.

But at least one Republican has said he’s not comfortable voting on a bill he hasn’t seen yet. And he happens to be from Walker’s own state.

As the U.S. Senate gears up for a possible vote next week, Sen. Ron Johnson told CNN that holding a vote soon after the bill is released would be “rushed.”

“I can’t imagine, quite honestly, that I’d have the information to evaluate and justify a ‘yes’ vote in just a week,” Johnson said.

Meanwhile, Democrats are making the case that whatever Republicans come up with won’t help people like Milwaukee resident Denny Rauen, who spoke with reporters on a teleconference organized by state Democrats on Wednesday.

Rauen said the secret drafting of the Senate bill is frustrating and he’s worried about losing coverage for a preexisting condition he has.

“You take something that is so misunderstood already and you put it behind closed doors so no one can even know what it is you’re doing and they don’t understand it when you do. It’s beyond me,” he said.

Rauen owns a guitar shop and had insurance both before and after the ACA took effect. Before the law, he was told by his insurer they wouldn’t cover brain scans his doctor had ordered because of headaches. Rauen said it turned out he didn’t have a tumor but the insurer said he had a preexisting condition.

“I just can’t emphasize enough how important it is that they just improve the ACA that they don’t get rid of it. Because pre-existing conditions is a very, very big issue,” he said.

In May, the governor initially said he’d consider dropping protections for preexisting conditions but vowed to keep protections after an outcry.

During the teleconference Wednesday, Democratic state Rep. Chris Taylor and Sen. Jon Erpenbach said Congress should be expanding access and lowering costs, not repealing Obamacare.

An official analysis by the Congressional Budget Office on the U.S. Senate bill is not out yet. But a bill passed earlier this year in the House was estimated to leave 23 million uninsured by 2026. The CBO report is expected after the Senate health bill is slated to be released Thursday.

“Those out in Washington who are pushing this are completely out of touch with reality simply because they have the best health care coverage you can have and taxpayers pay for it so taxpayers certainly deserve a right to know what’s in there,” Erpenbach said.

Johnson told CNN that at a minimum, the bill should stabilize the insurance marketplaces created under Obamacare. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield announced Wednesday it will not sell coverage on Wisconsin’s federal marketplace next year. The company will still offer one plan, off the exchange, in Menominee County.