Paul: Block grants can ‘set up a perpetual food fight’

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has said he will vote against the GOP’s latest ObamaCare repeal bill, said Sunday that converting health care funding into block grants to states sets up “a perpetual food fight.”

“Well I’ve always been a yes for repeal but the bill, unfortunately the Graham-Cassidy, basically keeps most of the ObamaCare spending,” Paul told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” referencing the legislation Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) are pushing.

“I think what it sets up is a perpetual food fight over the formula,” Paul said.

“I’m just not for this block granting concept because to me that is an affirmative vote that I’ve agreed to keep ObamaCare,” Paul later added.

{mosads}Paul has argued that the bill does not repeal enough of ObamaCare.

“Well they could remove the block grants from it and then we could vote on actually what we all agree on,” Paul said in the interview when pressed if he would ever vote for the bill, which is centered on block grants.

Paul also said he would have voted to block grant Medicaid funding in 2009.

“I would vote to block grant at pre-Obama levels,” he said.

Paul is one of several key GOP senators the White House hopes will support the latest effort to repeal the Obama-era health care law. White House director of legislative affairs Marc Short said earlier Sunday that he hopes Paul will back the bill.