Still two weeks before the September 30th deadline for Senate Republicans to get away with only needing 51 votes for repealing the Affordable Care Act and kicking tens of millions of Americans off their health coverage, and that means one last plan to try to kill them some poors. Sponsored by "GOP moderates" like Huckleberry Graham, the bill would wreck America's health care system, end Medicaid expansion for millions, and throw millions more off Medicaid by turning it into block grants for states...who won't be compelled to spend a single dime on the program as a result.
Sens. Lindsey Graham, Bill Cassidy, Dean Heller and Ron Johnson on Wednesday released an Obamacare repeal bill, framing it as the last, best hope to fulfill the GOP's promise to undo the health law.
"There's a lot of fight left in the Republican Party" on repeal, Graham said.
The bill faces long odds: Even some of its GOP backers say it would be almost impossible to get a massive rewrite of the health care system through the Senate within 17 days, or before the expiration of fast-track procedural powers Republicans hope to use to bypass the threat of a Democratic filibuster.
President Donald Trump praised the lawmakers for continuing to work on Obamacare repeal, citing the "complete nightmare" the law is for Americans. But he didn't indicate whether he would press lawmakers to support the measure. "I sincerely hope that Senators Graham and Cassidy have found a way to address the Obamacare crisis," he said in a statement.
Graham called on Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Senate GOP leaders to help them gather 50 votes. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who brought up several repeal measures in July only to see all of them fail, has said he'd bring up any Obamacare repeal bill that has enough Republican support. McConnell on Tuesday refused to choose between the repeal bill or a bipartisan measure being drafted by GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray.
Oh, but it gets worse.
The $1.2 trillion bill, H.R. 1628 (115), which has been at the CBO for about one week, according to the senators, would provide states with block grants instead of Obamacare's tax credits, Medicaid expansion and cost-sharing payments. It would also repeal Obamacare's individual and employer mandates and the medical device tax.
In general, Republicans favor giving the states a “block grant” of funding to create their own health care systems. The repeal bill attempts to equalize health care spending by the federal government to states.
Some states, particularly high-cost places such as Massachusetts, are bound to be worse off under the measure than less expensive parts of the country.
It’s unclear if the CBO would even have time to score the bill before the end of the month. It would also have to go before the Senate parliamentarian to ensure that it complies with the rules of the expedited procedure, called reconciliation.
Blue states would get billions less for sure, but imagine giving Wyoming (pop 600,000 or so) and California (pop 39 million and change) an equal amount to implement Medicaid.
That's what we're looking at. And again, states would not be compelled to spend all the money on Medicaid.
But here's the best part: after 2026, funding for the block grants is zeroed out.
No more Medicaid. Period. Done. Gone. Over.
This is arguably the worst version yet of Trumpcare, and it's coming unless we help stop it.
Make those calls, folks.
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