Polar opposites: Sandoval, Amodei show best, worst of GOP on health care

Sunday, May 7, 2017 | 2 a.m.

It’s unclear how many people might lose health care coverage under the version of the American Health Care Act that the House of Representatives foolishly passed on Thursday, and yet Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei voted for it, anyway.

There was no Congressional Budget Office study of the measure. No firm estimates on how many billions of dollars would have to be spent to protect people with pre-existing conditions. No hard data on the potential negative outcomes.

Yet Amodei, who had opposed the measure until this past week, flipped and gave it a yes vote on Thursday.

This is like putting on a blindfold, getting behind the wheel of a car and flooring it down a busy street.

With his 180, which reportedly came after Amodei got sweated by Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price, Amodei stamped himself as unfit for office. Obviously, his allegiances lie more with his party than with the people of Nevada, especially those whose health care coverage is now in jeopardy.

Amodei put out a statement saying he switched his position after participating in “extensive discussions” and conducting “further research” that convinced him the bill addressed his concern that the AHCA would cut Medicaid funding to Nevada by nearly $245 million, which would result in Medicaid recipients losing funding or the state being forced to make up for the shortfall.

“I have concluded that the potential for Nevada deficits or expanded Medicaid enrollees being kicked off of Medicaid will be avoided,” he said.

So here’s what we’re apparently supposed to believe: After stating opposition to the measure for weeks, Amodei magically found language in the bill at the 11th hour that made him see the light.

That’s a stretch. Far more likely, it became clear that Amodei realized he could find himself on the other side of a party line vote, and he caved in. Twenty of his GOP colleagues voted against the measure, showing they had the guts to stand up for their constituents as opposed to staying in political rank.

Those 20 deserve praise. So do Nevada Reps. Dina Titus, Jacky Rosen and Ruben Kihuen, all of whom voted against the measure, and Republican Sen. Dean Heller, who issued a statement criticizing it.

“I want to repeal Obamacare in a way that benefits Nevadans, but I think that the current bill falls short,” Heller said. “I will not support it in its current form in the Senate, and am confident that what the Senate considers and approves will be different from the House bill.”

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., also hammered the House bill, saying it would cost tens of millions of Americans their coverage.

“They will find themselves suddenly unable to access the prescription drugs and treatments they rely on to survive,” she said. “For millions more, especially those with pre-existing conditions, premiums will skyrocket.”

Heller said he was collaborating with Gov. Brian Sandoval and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell to put together a fix in the Senate. That’s encouraging, but Heller needs to understand that Nevadans now expect him to come through with an improved plan. It would be unacceptable for him to cave like Amodei did.

Republicans should all take a cue from Sandoval, who has shown true leadership on the issue by being one of the early adopters of Obamacare. Sandoval has been working with other state governors to craft their own health care proposal, recognizing how strongly the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion benefited Nevadans. Those benefits include reduction of uncompensated care costs for hospitals and an uninsured rate of just 11 percent, a record low.

Sandoval has shown that there are Republicans who care about the people they represent and are trying to work toward a just and compassionate solution.

Amodei, on the other hand, just helped put that progress at risk — along with the health of an untold number of Nevadans.

President Donald Trump and the Republican leadership promised a plan that would be an improvement over Obamacare, but the House version doesn’t come close to that. It’s a hatchet job on the Affordable Care Act, and it would leave millions without coverage. If the Senate folds as the House did, people will die because of this action and the GOP will have to own that.

Given that Amodei’s district covers roughly the northern third of the state, where Trump carried every county except Washoe, he may feel politically protected from his decision.

He shouldn’t. Although Trump carried the balance of his district, Hillary Clinton got more votes in Washoe County than Trump did in the other counties combined. You can bet those Clinton voters will remember Amodei’s vote, as will every Nevadan who’s not among Trump’s most hard-core supporters.

Plus, Amodei’s job is to represent all of the people in his district. With his vote Thursday, he let them down.

For Amodei, the post-vote GOP celebration had better have been worth it. The hangover threatens to be fierce.