Ron Johnson says no guarantees of coverage under the Republican health plan or Obamacare

Sen. Ron Johnson got into a heated exchange Wednesday on the issue of whether those with pre-existing conditions would be covered under the Republicans’ replacement plan.

“Millions of people lost coverage of Obamacare. There are no guarantees other than the fact that premiums have already doubled. They continue to skyrocket. We’ll have to continue to throw money at a failing program. It just simply doesn’t work,” Mr. Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, said on MSNBC.

Mr. Johnson is one of the co-sponsors of the Graham-Cassidy plan currently moving through the Senate. The bill aims to reallocate Obamacare funds to evenly distribute them to all states in the form of block grants. Mr. Johnson and his fellow sponsors of the bill claim that four states get 37 percent of Obamacare’s funding so those states would see a decrease in funding, as well as those states that opted for the Medicaid expansion.

“Governors that took the expansion aren’t going to want a fair distribution of those health care dollars. I get that. There will be less money than they otherwise would have gotten because the distributions have been so inequitable. We’re still spending vast amounts of money,” he said.

When pressed about the loss of funding equating to a loss of coverage for those under the Medicaid expansion, Mr. Johnson said the entitlement program should not be a permanent solution for people, but a “bridge” while they look for a job that provides coverage.

“Medicaid expansion should be for a bridge to a job, and I think that’s the problem with any kind of entitlement is I’m not sure it’s being used as a bridge to a job,” the senator said.

As far as those with pre-existing conditions, Mr. Johnson said Obamacare also does not provide them a guarantee for coverage, either.

“I just pointed out that individuals that are busting it, that are working hard, don’t get subsidies, they are without coverage. Some of them have pre-existing conditions. There are no absolute guarantees,” he said.