Senate health care bill: 5th Republican senator comes out against GOP plan

Another Republican senator came out against the GOP health care plan on Friday, making it nearly impossible for the package to pass the chamber in its current form.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said on Friday that the bill is “simply not the answer,” joining Republican Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., in opposition.

“My point is this bill currently in front of the United States Senate is not the answer–it is simply not the answer,” Heller said at a press conference in Nevada on Friday. “I am announcing today that in this form I will not support it.”

Heller and Cruz are both up for re-election in 2018.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who rolled out the legislation on Thursday, needs 50 votes to pass the bill to the House, with Vice President Mike Pence serving as the tie-breaking vote. But without the support of Paul, Cruz, Lee, Johnson, and now Heller, passage of the bill in its current form will be nearly impossible, unless Republicans can manage to draw Democratic votes, which is highly unlikely.

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