New GOP health care bill: unkind, un-gentle - by the Boston Globe Editors
SEPTEMBER 21, 2017
When a small group of Republican senators introduced another Obamacare repeal bill last week, it was easy to dismiss. Earlier efforts to gut the health care law had ended in humiliating defeat, and the new measure was quickly labeled a “last-ditch” effort, with little chance of success.
But the pace has quickened over the last couple of days and the peril, it’s now clear, is real. The GOP’s “last-ditch” bill is a dangerous threat to the health of millions of Americans — and a potentially devastating blow to Massachusetts, in particular. It must be vigorously opposed. And it must be defeated. The GOP has dressed up its new bill, authored by Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, as a kinder, gentler repeal. But it’s no such thing.
The legislation has all the deep flaws of previous iterations. It would deprive millions of health care coverage, slash Medicaid, and allow insurers to charge higher premiums to people with preexisting conditions — premiums that would be unaffordable for many.
The bill includes one new twist — it would bundle federal health care dollars into block grants and give states wide discretion over how they would be spent. But while local control may sound good, it could lead to worrisome inconsistencies in coverage. And the complex formula for distributing the aid would hit Massachusetts hard.
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