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Kochs to Challenge GOP Senators on Health Bill

Comments come at Koch network summit over the weekend

Sen.. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., was cagey at the Kock network summit when asked if he would support the GOP health care bill. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Sen.. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., was cagey at the Kock network summit when asked if he would support the GOP health care bill. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

The leaders of Charles and David Koch’s network said they will challenge Republicans because of the proposed Republican replacement to the 2010 health care law.

Aides to the organization said they were “disappointed” the bill did not do enough to repeal the 2010 law, NBC reported.

“At the end of the day, this bill is not going to fix health care,” spokesman James Davis told NBC.

“Our network voraciously opposed Medicaid expansion in state after state,” Tim Phillips, head of Americans for Prosperity, said during a session with invited reporters.

“These Republicans who expanded Medicaid were flatly wrong,” Phillips said of Govs. Brian Sandoval of Nevada and John Kasich of Ohio among others. “So we’re going to continue holding these Republicans accountable.”

The organization said it plans to spend $300 to $400 million in the 2018 midterm elections.

The Koch network’s main objections, as discussed at its donor summit in Colorado last weekend, were the subsidies for people who cannot purchase insurance and that the bill does not do enough to repeal coverage requirements.

Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska was among the attendees at the event who was cagey about whether he’d support the bill.

“The press is here, right? I have nothing to announce,” he said to laughter.

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