Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) slammed Senate Republicans' healthcare overhaul bill on Friday, saying that it's grounded in "propping up" insurance companies. He also called for the creation of a healthcare law that would reduce insurance costs to as little as $1 a day for at least some consumers.
"What I'd like to do is legalize inexpensive insurance, and you should be able to get insurance for $1 a day. I mean, you really should," Paul said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "The insurance companies make all the money; all of this is predicated upon still propping up the insurance companies."
Paul's comments came a day after Republican leaders in the Senate unveiled their highly anticipated plan to repeal and replace large parts of the Affordable Care Act.
Paul is one of four conservative senators to announce their opposition to the bill. Paul and the three other lawmakers largely object because they believe the Senate bill would not do enough to lower premium costs and that it would leave much of ObamaCare in place.
Senate GOP leaders can only afford to lose two votes with their 52-member majority and still pass the bill. They also face pressure from senators who are worried the legislation cuts too deeply into Medicaid.
Paul said Friday that the Senate bill fails to address ObamaCare's subsidies to insurance companies, arguing that it continues a trend of "bailing out" insurers.
"I want the bill to look more like a repeal bill. I promised people I was going to repeal it; I didn't promise people that I was going to replace it with a federal program of bailing out insurance companies," he said.
"I mean, we could do this for cars," he added. "New cars are expensive. We could have a car stabilization fund."
