GOP gov: Senate needs to change House health bill

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) says that the Senate should not try to pass the House Republicans’ bill for repealing and replacing ObamaCare as it stands now.

“There needs to be more changes in the Senate,” Hutchinson said Friday on CNN’s “New Day.”  “It’s a good first step but we don’t want it to be the final step. Whenever we pass the bill in the House, we need to understand that’s not a completion of the process.”

Hutchinson added that repealing ObamaCare remains necessary, arguing it is too costly.

{mosads}“But what we have right now from a governor’s standpoint in Arkansas is really not manageable over the long term. We can’t afford this system.”

House Republicans on Thursday passed legislation aimed at repealing and replacing ObamaCare.

The narrow 217-213 vote is a victory for GOP leaders, who faced an uphill battle clearing the American Health Care Act (AHCA) in the lower chamber.

The AHCA next heads to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.

Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn (Texas) announced Thursday that the upper chamber would have “no arbitrary deadlines” on the AHCA.

“We’re going through the issues methodically,” he said. “The House passing the bill gives us a little bit more of a sense of urgency but it’s going to take a while.”