"Nearly all Republicans in Congress are opposed to a Democratic health care plan that would expand Medicaid to millions of currently uninsured Americans, generally citing its cost. But late on the third day of debate in the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, several lawmakers suggested a new rationale: the health program for the poor is worse than no insurance.

"We're about to shove 11 million more people onto Medicaid, said Senator Michael B. Enzi, a Republican from Wyoming, and yet, he added, current beneficiaries and their children already have trouble finding doctors who are willing to treat them, given the program's low reimbursement rates in many states.