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Graham-Cassidy bill would be devastating to Arizonans

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has been trashing the Graham-Cassidy health care bill all over town.

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Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy has received a lot of backlash for this proposed healthcare bill, but he insists it will cover more people than Obamacare. It also would reduce federal support for the overall Medicaid program by sending states a fixed amount per enrollee, known as a per-capita cap, or a lump sum, known as a block grant.

Mr. Johnson is one of the co-sponsors of the Graham-Cassidy plan now moving through the Senate. “It is a very clear transfer”.

The Bay State is among 20 states that would lose the most federal funding, the CBPP analysis found. Republican-controlled states in the south and Midwest that opted out of the Obamacare Medicaid expansion could gain. A GOP Senate health care vote on the Graham Cassidy legislation could come as early as next week, and Republicans may be just one vote shy of being able to pass it. There will not be enough time for the Congressional Budget Office to assess the bill’s impact on budgets and insurance coverage, the floor debate for the bill will likely be severely limited, and the Senate has yet to hold a single committee hearing on the measure.

A bipartisan group of 10 governors has urged the Senate to reject the proposal, though Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is a Republican, said Tuesday she is in favor. “Our goal is by 2026 to make sure every patient in every state gets the same contribution, roughly, from the federal government”.

And then the states can use the money for any number of things.

Neither of the consultant reports estimated how many people overall could lose insurance coverage. It would cut federal funding overall and block-grant money to states to set up their own systems. “Am I not understanding the part where states would be allowed to let insurance companies price you out of coverage for having preexisting conditions?”

Because the bill depends on states to implement it, the exact effects are impossible to estimate. 35 states, including West Virginia, would see a loss in funding. Kaiser notes that if that money isn’t renewed, funding would decrease by $240 billion in 2027 alone.

Former President Barack Obama also denounced the proposal on Wednesday, saying it’s “frustrating to have to mobilize every couple months to keep our leaders from inflicting real human suffering on our constituents”.

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Spokesman Joseph Cueto said it is “perfectly clear…that Obamacare is a complete disaster”.

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