Pence visiting Lexington Wednesday to tout GOP health-care plan

Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell have dominated the health care conversation in Kentucky in recent weeks, but a new voice will soon be added to the fray — Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence will visit Lexington Wednesday afternoon to talk about Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, according to the vice president’s office.

Kentucky’s two U.S. senators are divided on the issue, with Senate Majority Leader McConnell pushing a bill to replace former President Barack Obama’s signature domestic accomplishment and Paul standing in opposition to the bill in its current form.

“What I’ve objected to some in the bill is that we’ve padded the bill with extraneous, very expensive items that I think would bankrupt the country,” Paul said at a news conference in Louisville Friday.

Paul has said he doesn’t think the Senate’s legislation goes far enough in repealing the Affordable Care Act, but has also said he could potentially support a partial repeal.

McConnell has said Paul is a lost cause on the bill, according to Politico.

At a news conference Monday, Paul said he had not talked with McConnell about what it would take to support the bill, but Paul has continued to speak with President Donald Trump about the issue.

This will be Pence’s second official visit to Kentucky since becoming vice president. In March, he spoke to business leaders in Louisville about the House of Representative’s bill to overhaul health care.

This story was originally published July 10, 2017 at 7:15 PM with the headline "Pence visiting Lexington Wednesday to tout GOP health-care plan."