The stated opposition of Sen. John McCain to Senate Republicans' newest attempts to gut both "Obamacare" and Medicaid itself has severely wounded those efforts, but it hasn't killed them. Senators Cassidy and Graham took to the Sunday shows today to continue selling their bill, and the Republican leadership is pressing hard to see which holdout senators can still be bought.
Out in the rest of the country, however, medical groups are nearly unanimous in their condemnation of the bill. The latest is a joint statement from the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, the American Academy of Family Physicians, AHIP and Blue Cross/Blue Shield—some of the most prominent healthcare groups in the nation—that blasts the bill and urges the Senate to vote against it.
While we sometimes disagree on important issues in health care, we are in total agreement that Americans deserve a stable healthcare market that provides access to high-quality care and affordable coverage for all. The Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson bill does not move us closer to that goal. The Senate should reject it.
We agree that the bill will cause patients and consumers to lose important protections, as well as undermine safeguards for those with pre-existing conditions. [...]
We agree that the bill will result in dramatic cuts to Medicaid and a funding cliff in the future, fundamentally changing the way that states provide coverage for some of our most vulnerable citizens. This means that tens of millions of patients will lose their coverage and go without much-needed care.
We agree that the individual insurance market will be drastically weakened, making coverage more expensive and jeopardizing American's choice of health plans. By not providing all states with sufficient funds to support working families who need help buying coverage, millions will go without it.
On ABC, Sen. Bill Cassidy suggested that we'll be seeing a new version of the bill tomorrow morning—and used that new version to dismiss any upcoming evaluations of the bill's effects from the Congressional Budget Office.
"There will be a new bill introduced tomorrow morning. Whatever the CBO scores will be superseded by another score later this week. Some of what will be seen tomorrow will no longer be relevant."
We’ve won some important battles to save health care but we haven’t won the war. Republicans could still get the votes to repeal Obamacare. Call your senators at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to vote “NO” on any repeal bill. (After you call, please tell us how it went.)