An excellent evauluation of what the republicans are trying to do to repeal the ACA again
"The prospects for the new legislation passing are murky. The proposal has generated a ton of conversation in political and health policy circles in just the past week, with multiple outlets reporting that leadership is now thinking about floor action before Sept. 30. That’s the magic date when, because of parliamentary rules, Republicans lose their ability to pass repeal with just 50 votes. But much of the chatter is hype from supporters and it’s hard to know just how difficult assembling a majority will be.
Still, even if the bill’s political fortunes are difficult to pin down, the impact it would have as a law is crystal clear. By dramatically scaling back what the federal government spends on health care and undermining rules designed to guarantee insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, this new proposal would leave millions of Americans struggling to pay their medical bills and to get coverage.
It is, in other words, another shot at full repeal, although its GOP sponsors sometimes suggest otherwise ― and that’s one reason it has escaped heavy scrutiny until now"
"A New Bill With The Same Old Devastating Effects On Coverage
Those sponsors are Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina ― an unlikely duo, perhaps, given some of their previous statements about repeal. During the spring and summer, Graham repeatedly criticized his party’s leadership for trying to jam through legislation on a party-line vote, without trying to work with Democrats or going through the usual committee process."
......Now the pair is back with a proposal that would (yet again) go straight to a floor vote and would (yet again) mean no coverage for tens of millions. "
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Starting in 2020, the Cassidy-Graham bill would entirely eliminate both the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies and the enhanced federal funding that underwrites the expansion of Medicaid in 31 states (plus the District of Columbia). The bill would then establish a “block grant,” handing money directly to the states for helping people to pay for health care. This would produce the best of all worlds, as Cassidy and Graham would say, because it would mean states could stop worrying about the complications of the Affordable Care Act and simply use that money in ways that will work best for them and their citizens.
....the bill would give states new flexibility ― so much flexibility, in fact, that they wouldn’t have to direct the funding to the low- and middle-income Americans who need the help most. Nor would they have to keep regulations that prohibit insurers from charging higher premiums to people with pre-existing medical conditions, or include benefits like mental health and maternity that carriers frequently excluded in the old, pre-Obamacare days and would almost surely start excluding again if they had the chance.
“This bill is far more radical [than previous repeal bills] in that it envisions going back to the pre-ACA world, where the federal government wasn’t in the business of helping low-income adults or moderate-income people without employer coverage get health insurance at all,” Aviva Aron-Dine, senior fellow at the center, told HuffPost. “Compared to pre-ACA, there would be some extra state grant money floating around – but it would have virtually no requirements attached to it at all and, since the funding wouldn’t adjust based on enrollment or costs, it would be hard for even well-intentioned states to use it to create an individual entitlement to coverage or help.”
Oh, and the bill would repeal the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, and do so right away ― destabilizing insurance markets and causing premiums to rise right away, according to official projections.
The substantive impact of the bill, and the rushed process Republicans are using to push it, makes the Cassidy-Graham bill looks a lot like the bills that failed to get majority votes back in July, when the Senate took them up.
And the politics of repeal would seem to be no more favorable for Republicans than they did then. The 2010 health care law, which has led to a historic decline in the number of people without insurance, has grown steadily, if incrementally, more popular during the repeal debate, according to polling. Clear majorities now prefer either keeping or improving the law, flaws and all, rather than getting rid of it outright
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Another factor in the bill’s eventual success or demise will be the way it shifts money among the states. Because of its complex funding formula, states like Alabama and Texas would initially see more funding, while states like California and Connecticut would see dramatic cuts, according to the same Center on Budget and Public Priorities analysis. The partisan tinge to the transformation is presumably intentional, since it’s mostly a transfer of money from Democratic states to Republican ones ― and, perversely, from those states that have tried hardest to expand coverage, by expanding their Medicaid programs and promoting enrollment, to those that have done as little as possible to help their citizens and in some cases worked actively to undermine the Affordable Care Act.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dont-look-now-but-full-obamacare-repeal-is-back-on-the-table_us_59bd9f2de4b086432b07a12a?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
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They must have a win and they have been buying votes since the end of July. The three who voted against repeal can't be counted on. McConnell will make sure this bill passes. They are the party of cruel, selfish greed. The money saved by repealing the ACA will make the 1% richer and that is what the GOP lives for. Greed, hypocricy and constant dishonesty makes them the true sociopaths that they are. Please call Congress and demand they vote NO! Tell them that they can say good bye to any thoughts of re-election.
Call Congress (202)224-3121 THANKS!
