Vulnerable GOP rep won’t support healthcare bill ‘as it is right now’

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said Monday that he is “not prepared” to vote for the House GOP ObamaCare replacement bill “as it is right now.”

“I’m not prepared to vote for it as it is right now, and I think that’s not because of a specific ‘this is unacceptable’ but because I think we can do better,” Issa said on Fox News. 

Most of the Republican resistance to the bill has come from conservatives who blast it as “ObamaCare lite.” But the comments from Issa, one of the most vulnerable House Republicans in next year’s elections, highlight that those in competitive districts could have concerns as well. 

{mosads}Issa, a former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, didn’t offer specific concerns about the bill. But he said that he wants to make sure that plans are affordable and that the balance of healthy and sick enrollees does not skew prices too high. 

Notably, Issa also said, “I’m looking for the budget number,” a reference to the impending analysis of the bill from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Some Republicans, in contrast to Issa, have preemptively dismissed that analysis, which is expected to be negative about the bill.

Still, Issa added: “In general though, we’re doing something about a program that’s failing, that didn’t achieve what it said it was going to achieve.”