Response to Graham-Cassidy
The latest effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act–a block grant to states, which ends in 2026–reflects the same kind of irresponsible cost-shifting that characterized previous efforts. The Graham- Cassidy proposal cuts funding for Medicaid; financial assistance for low income workers buying private insurance; removes current protections for those with pre-existing medical conditions, ends the authority to cover childless adults, as well as funding for the expansion population, which will leave at least 15 million people without coverage.
This effort is driven by two things: the politics of delivering on a campaign slogan (“Repeal and Replaced Obamacare”); and the cost of Medicaid. Only the second reason has merit. Eventually, Congress will have to take action to reign in the overall cost of both Medicaid and Medicare, which have become major drivers of our $20 trillion national debt. Addressing cost, however, does not required cutting enrollment or benefits, as Oregon has clearly demonstrated (read more here).
