@alextdaugherty
Sen. Marco Rubio will vote yes on a motion to proceed with the second draft of the Senate's Obamacare repeal bill.
The bill, released on Thursday, was satisfactory to Rubio after he tweeted three provisions as conditions for his support on Wednesday night.
The provisions included more Medicaid payments to hospitals that serve a large number of low-income people, an option to choose catastrophic coverage plans with low monthly payments but high deductibles and flexible Medicaid caps for public health emergencies like Zika.
Rubio said that despite his support on the motion to proceed with the bill, he will introduce an amendment that ensures Florida, which chose not to expand Medicaid, isn't locked into a baseline "that puts us at a disadvantageous position."
"It depends what the final bill looks like, if Florida's not treated fairly it'll be a problem," Rubio said. "But ultimately, I campaigned to repeal and replace Obamacare and that's what I want to but I want to do it in a way that's positive for the country and fair for Florida."
Even though Rubio is in favor of proceeding with the bill, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican and conservative Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul both said Thursday they are not in favor of proceeding with the bill. A number of other Republican senators said they are undecided.
"We have at least 51 insurance markets in the country, we don't have one, so everybody's approaching it from the perspective of their own state," Rubio said.
The bill can still be changed if the motion to proceed passes with additional amendments.
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