April 26, 2017 02:00 PM UTC

Mike Coffman Clear as Mud on "Trumpcare 2.0"

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• by: Colorado Pols

With a new Affordable Care Act repeal proposal making the rounds in Washington, D.C., all eyes in Colorado are on Rep. Mike Coffman–who made what is universally regarded as a major unforced error by announcing his support for the original “Trumpcare” bill just before it was killed by GOP leadership for lack of support.

A brief press roundup today makes it clear that Rep. Coffman intends to be more careful this time. Morning Consult:

The ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus on Wednesday announced its support for the Republican health care bill as long as it includes an amendment from moderate Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.)…

The amendment would allow states to waive certain consumer protections within the ACA, such as essential health benefits and when insurance companies can charge certain consumers more for premiums.

Moderate Republicans worry these changes could hurt people with pre-existing health conditions. They have been hesitant to support the proposal from MacArthur, despite his position as a co-chair of the Tuesday Group, which comprises roughly 50 centrist Republicans…

Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), for one, said the MacArthur amendment had prompted him to change his “Yes” vote on the measure to “undecided,” due to concerns about the bill’s impact on Americans with pre-existing health conditions. [Pols emphasis]

Talking Points Memo:

Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) (pictured) said he was previously yes on the bill but now considers himself undecided with the new changes.

“With the prior bill, I supported that publicly before it went down. This is a different twist and I have got to re-examine it,” he said.

The Hill:

One centrist Republican, Rep. Mike Coffman (Colo.), supported the earlier bill but now says he is undecided, underscoring the fluidity.

“I made it very clear … to my constituents that I’m going to protect pre-existing conditions, and so this is a fairly complicated proposal, so I’ve really got to review it,” Coffman said.

After taking heavy fire over his support for the original “Trumpcare” proposal since its failure, then compounding his problems by weakly claiming after the fact that he wasn’t a “hard yes” on the bill, it appears Coffman has rediscovered vagueness as the best way to handle the issue of health care reform. It’s worth noting that a noncommittal approach heavy on platitudes has served Coffman pretty well on issues like immigration–which made his willingness to take a definable stand on health care a bit of a surprise.

As of now, for Coffman’s constituents, it’s back to the guessing game.