Sen. Ron Johnson said Wednesday that nothing in the House or Senate health care bills did anything for “the forgotten man.”
“Let’s face it, Obamacare is a mess,” the Wisconsin Republican said on Fox News. “Premiums nationally to date have increased 105 percent. I’ve talked to constituents who’ve seen premiums triple and more. And what’s really disheartening is in this entire debate, nobody really seemed — other than myself — to champion the forgotten man and woman.”
Mr. Johnson said that he was planning to propose an amendment that would help lower premiums, something he said was missing in the previous health care talks.
“Nothing in the bill, in either the House or the Senate bill, really addressed the root cause of those skyrocketing premiums and we really should address that,” he said.
Mr. Johnson added that he’d like to see governors have more control over health care legislation in their states and is working with fellow Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy on their amendment that would provide states an annual block grant to use towards health care.
“I’m working with Lindsey and Bill Cassidy and [Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin] and the other governors,” he explained. “Let’s get this decision making on health care outta Washington. We just mess things up.”
Mr. Johnson was a late supporter of the Senate’s health care law, which ultimately failed to pass. Many Republicans have said they don’t want to continue the health care debate and instead want to move on to tax reform.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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