Dead on arrival: Sen. Nelson slams GOP health plan

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — For six years, Republicans vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. But now that they have the means to do so, some lawmakers say it won’t happen.

“No. There is so much fight within the Republican majority that they can't figure out what to put in a replacement,” said Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida) on Friday. “As a result, what is coming out of the House right now, is going to be dead on arrival in the Senate. You already see about eight Republican senators are saying, ‘I don’t like this and I don’t like that.’”

Nelson, who spoke from his Orlando office, points to senators including Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), and Sen Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), who have each come out in opposition to the House Republican health care bill. Republicans have only 52 votes in the Senate and cannot pass a health care bill if they lose these three votes.

The bill is still making its way through the U.S. House, passing both the Ways and Means Committee as well as the Energy and Commerce Committee. It is expected that the independent Congressional Budget Office will deliver its score for the health care bill sometime next week. The Congressional Budget Office score will give lawmakers a rough guide as to how much the law will cost, who will pay what, and how many people will be covered.

While the Congressional Budget Office has not finished its work, other groups including the Brookings Institute have started to release their own estimates. Brookings said if Republicans repeal the individual mandate, as many as 15 million people could lose their health care.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has also released a report, finding Republican reductions to tax credits will disproportionately affect the poor and the elderly. The CBPP found the tax credit drop for a state like Florida, where the cost of living is higher, would mean the average person would see a credit reduction of $2,214.

"You are going to shift the cost of care to low- and middle-income people and give the tax break to the wealthy," Nelson said. “As a result they have got it completely upside-down.”

Under the ACA, also known as Obamacare, tax credits were adjusted based on cost of living and income.

Under the Republican plan, credits would be adjusted only by age; those credits would start at $2,000 for people younger than 30 and go up to $4,000 for people age 60 and older.

WATCH: Full interview with Sen. Nelson on health care overhaul

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