GOP abandons quest to repeal the ACA
After repeatedly coming up short of votes, President Trump and Congressional Republicans are finally admitting defeat in their years-long quest to repeal (and not really replace) the Affordable Care Act (ACA), leaving as many as 32 million people without health insurance.
The most recent iteration, a bill by Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, sought to trade access to affordable health care for tax breaks for corporate CEOs.
The Republicans were at least one vote short of passing the Graham-Cassidy bill before a procedural deadline this week. When Senators John McCain of Arizona and Senator Susan Collins of Maine both announced that they would not support the bill, GOP leaders finally announced that they would not move forward.
The Graham-Cassidy bill would have:
- Cut federal funding to Illinois by $8 billion, putting even greater pressure on our state’s already stressed fiscal health.
- Eliminated the cost-sharing subsidies and tax credits that help the middle class pay for health care on the ACA marketplace;
- Eliminated the ban on discriminatory premiums for people with pre-existing medical conditions;
- Allowed states to apply for waivers on price restrictions to let insurance companies charge older Americans higher premiums based on age;
- Allowed states to apply for waivers to change what qualifies as an essential health benefit to eliminate the out of pocket spending cap individuals pay for services like maternity care, hospitalization, prescription drugs and mental health care; and
- Cut Medical funding for seniors, people with disabilities and families with children.
The AARP, the AMA, and dozens of other medical and advocacy organizations opposed the legislation, which would have done great harm to patients, hospitals, and health care systems across the country.