Sen. John McCain says he can't "in good conscience" vote for Republicans' new Graham-Cassidy health care bill, potentially dealing a major blow to the legislation.
This bill is the Senate's latest attempt to repeal Obamacare. Some have criticized how the legislation handles Medicaid and its plan to replace Obamacare's insurance subsidies with block grants.
Block grants give states chunks of money that they can spend on health care. States choose how they use that money. With block grants, some states, especially those that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare, would receive less federal money.
McCain's criticism seems to rest largely with the procedure Republicans are using to pass the bill. He says "a bill of this impact requires a bipartisan approach."
That's similar to the reasoning he gave before voting against Republicans' last bill, known as the "skinny repeal," in July; McCain was the deciding vote then.
Right now, Republicans are relying on special rules meant for budget reconciliation to pass the bill, but their ability to do that expires Sept. 30. After that, they'll need some Democratic votes to pass an Obamacare repeal.
If McCain follows through, that likely means the new bill is only one "no" vote away from failing. Sen. Rand Paul has said he won't support it. And Tuesday, Sen. Susan Collins said she was "leaning no."
