Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire voiced his opposition Thursday to the current Senate health care bill to repeal Obamacare, citing concerns that cuts to Medicaid expansion would hurt his state’s ability to deal with the opioid crisis.
“The repercussions are pretty drastic for the state of New Hampshire, especially when you’re looking at resources that would come in. You’re looking at least $1.5 billion of cost to the state of New Hampshire over the next 10 years,” Sununu told “New Day” anchor Chris Cuomo.
“We are a no income tax state. We have no sales tax, we have no income tax. We really control our costs at the local level. That downshifting of cost to a state like ours is unfair and more importantly, it’s not practical. There’s really no practical way to implement the plan as it is.”
Obamacare greatly expanded Medicaid, allowing states such as New Hampshire that accepted funding to provide coverage to millions of low-income Americans who couldn’t afford it before.
The Senate bill would cut Medicaid spending by $772 billion over the next 10 years, compared with the current health care law, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Some 15 million fewer Americans would be covered by Medicaid in 2026.
GOP leaders are scrambling to revise the Senate legislation after delaying a vote on it until after the July Fourth recess.
Nevertheless, Sununu said he remained optimistic.
“I have a lot of faith in the Senate to come together, revise the plan and hopefully put something forward that treats states a little more on parity with one another and not be as financially impractical, if I can, on states like New Hampshire facing things like the opioid crisis, where so many folks are getting services because of some of the Medicaid opportunities afforded to them.”
Two days ago, Sununu sent a letter outlining his concerns to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In it, he wrote that “there has been too much partisan hyperbole engulfing the health care reform discussion and not nearly enough constructive ideas.”
Sununu told Cuomo that the focus on overhauling the Affordable Care Act has been “commendable” but said he believes Medicaid should be left out of that reform.
“If you’re going to reform Obamacare, look at Obamacare reform for what it is and what it needs to do and take traditional Medicaid entitlement as a separate piece.”