WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner was on the hot seat even before a new report estimated 22 million Americans would lose their health insurance by 2026 under a Republican bill the U.S. Senate could vote on this week.

Now the stakes are even higher for the Colorado Republican, who has not said whether he would back a GOP health care proposal he helped shape — though Gardner spoke more positively than not about the measure in a brief interview Monday on Capitol Hill.

“Over the weekend I had conversations with CEOs (including at least one official at) Blue Cross Blue Shield, who said their support for the bill is robust,” Gardner said of the health insurance giant. “They believe that it would markedly help stabilize the market, so I’ve got to go through each and every one of those arguments and see whether or not this achieves that.”

As for the report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which on Monday found the loss of insurance for 22 million Americans would come with a $321 billion reduction to the federal deficit over roughly the next decade, Gardner said he hadn’t finished reading it but that he wanted a second opinion.

“We need to see some analysis outside of CBO because I think there is some information that we’ve got to get from the (insurance) marketplace as well,” Gardner said.

Read the full story at The Denver Post.

Colorado Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner signed onto legislation that would allow pot entrepeneurs to utilize some common business deductions. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Alex Wong