Another GOP governor opposes Senate health plan

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu (N.H.) is rejecting the Senate GOP’s healthcare bill, saying the measure’s cuts to Medicaid will have “drastic” consequences for his constituents.

“I expressed my concern a couple days ago in a letter. The repercussions are pretty drastic for the state of New Hampshire, especially when you’re looking at the resources that would come in,” Sununu told host Chris Cuomo on CNN’s “New Day.” 

The governor said the Senate GOP’s new healthcare bill that dismantles key provisions of ObamaCare would be too costly for the Granite State.

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“You’re looking at at least $1.5 billion of cost to the state of New Hampshire over the next 10 years. We are a no-income-tax state. We have no sales tax or income tax. We really control our costs at the local level,” Sununu said.

“That downshifting of cost into a state like ours is unfair, and more importantly, it’s not practical. There’s really no practical way to implement the plan as is.”

Sununu is the latest Republican governor to reject the Senate version. 

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey are among the other GOP governors who have weighed in and voiced their opposition to the bill.

Sununu told Cuomo he agreed that ObamaCare needs to be reformed, but he said his state would suffer too much at the hands of Medicaid cuts. His state is being affected by the opioid crisis, he said, and many of them “are getting services because of some of the medicaid opportunities afforded to them.”