Holcomb ‘anxious’ but reserving judgment on health care bill

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is “anxious” to see a final version of Senate Republican’s health care overhaul. But the Republican governor said Monday that he will withhold judgment on the divisive measure until then.

Holcomb’s comments come as a number of Democratic and Republican governors, including Ohio’s John Kasich, have called for a bipartisan bill. The measure to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law that is currently in the Senate lacks support from Democrats.

Indiana could lose big under the bill. The state’s HIP 2.0 program, which provides health care for more than 400,000 people, is funded primary with federal Medicaid dollars. The Republican bill phases out funding that currently goes to the states for such programs.

It could also jeopardize funding for drug treatment that Holcomb wanted.