Republican Senator Dean Heller opposes health care bill

Updated

June 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Senator Dean Heller said on Friday he would not support a health care bill unveiled by the Senate Republican leadership in its current form, becoming the fifth Republican senator to oppose the draft legislation, MSNBC reported.

"This bill ... is not the answer," Heller told MSNBC. "I'm announcing today that in this form I will not support it."

Heller, considered to be a moderate among Republican senators, joins four of the Senate's most conservative members -- Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ron Johnson -- as announced "no" votes for the bill's current structure.

"If this is the bill, if this is the language ... I won't be voting for it," Heller said, expressing concern that the bill does not adequately protect those who use Medicaid.

(Reporting by Mohammad Zargham in Washington; Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by Tim Ahmann)

AOL contributed to this report

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