Graham-Cassidy Fails, But Health Care Protections Still at Risk

Last week a new version of an ACA ‘Repeal and Replace’ bill was unveiled in the U.S. Senate. This legislation has been dubbed “Graham-Cassidy” after the two main authors of the bill, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.). In order for the bill to be passed under a process called Budget Reconciliation, the vote must occur before September 30, 2017.  The reason that Republicans are trying to advance the legislation through the reconciliation process is that debate time is limited, it cannot be blocked by a filibuster, and therefore, the legislation only needs 50 votes to pass. There are currently 52 Republican Senators. The Congressional Budget Office has only released a preliminary review of the potential impact of the bill, and found that millions of people would lose health insurance coverage under this bill.

Unfortunately, like previous proposals this bill would also take away consumer protections and ultimately leave people with pre-existing conditions unprotected. (read more about earlier proposals).

Triage Cancer is proud to stand with patient advocacy groups from across the country in opposition to the Graham-Cassidy bill.

Graham-Cassidy Fails

Also, in case you missed it, Triage Cancer’s CEO, Joanna Morales wrote an open letter to Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski explaining why we at Triage Cancer, a non-partisan organization, are so concerned about any effort to limit access to health care coverage. Her letter was featured in the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship’s blog.

In light of the fact that Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have publicly stated that they would not support the Graham-Cassidy bill, Senate leadership has decided not to bring the bill for a vote this week. Today, President Trump announced that he now has the votes to pass the bill and will bring it up again during the next reconciliation period. That time period is unknown because the Senate would have to pass a new budget resolution that established a new reconciliation period.

While the ACA is still law of the land, there are still some challenges with respect to access to health care:

  1. Insurers still face uncertainty over the status of the subsidy payments
  2. The 2018 open enrollment period has been significantly cut to a total of six weeks (November 1 – December 15, 2017). But, note that some states have chosen longer enrollment periods:
  • California – November 1 to January 31
  • Colorado – November 1 to January 12
  • D.C. – November 1 to January 31
  • Massachusetts – November 1 to January 31
  • Minnesota – November 1 to January 14
  • Washington – November 1 to January 1
  1. The Administration has cut funding for marketing and in-person assistors to help people enroll in coverage by 90%
  2. The Administration is impeding states’ ability to stabilize their health insurance marketplaces

Stay tuned for updates and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for late breaking news.

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