Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
It's Not Just Blue States That Will Be Hurt Under GOP Plan -- Trump Country Would Take Hit Too
The Associated Press: Memo To GOP: Red States Also Among Losers In Health Bill
Memo to Republican senators: Many of the states President Donald Trump won last year would lose significant federal financing under the last-ditch Republican health care bill headed for a possible showdown in the Senate this week. Among states expected to lose are Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, and Ohio, where cuts could swell the number of uninsured people. That has political implications for Republicans girding for congressional midterm elections next year, as well as for the next presidential race in 2020. That year is when the biggest spending reductions from the legislation by GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy would start taking effect. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/25)
Los Angeles Times: California Would Take Biggest Hit Under Senate Republicans' Latest Obamacare Repeal Plan
California, which has used the Affordable Care Act to extend health protections to millions of its residents and cut in half the number of people without health insurance, stands to lose more than any other state under the latest Republican plan to roll back the 2010 law. The GOP plan, which Senate leaders want to bring to a vote this week, would slash more than $100 billion in federal funding for the state over the next decade and tens of billions more in the years that follow. (Levey, 9/24)
Kaiser Health News: A Tale Of Two States: California, Texas And The Latest ACA Repeal Bid
The GOP’s latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act wobbled on Friday as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he could not support it. But the bill known as Graham-Cassidy isn’t dead yet. And whatever its fate, the long-held Republican goal it embodies — to fundamentally change how the government funds Medicaid — will survive. Graham-Cassidy would dramatically redistribute federal funds to states. And, generally, states that expanded Medicaid — like California — stand to lose billions of dollars as that money is doled out to states that didn’t — like Texas. (Dembosky and Lopez, 9/22)
Bloomberg: At Least 21 Million Would Lose Coverage In GOP Bill, Brookings Says
At least 21 million fewer Americans would have health-care coverage from 2020 to 2026 under the Senate Republicans’ latest plan to repeal and replace parts of Obamacare, according to an estimate by the Brookings Institution. The number “likely underestimates the reductions in insurance coverage” because it doesn’t take into account difficulties states may face setting up their own health systems, said the nonprofit policy group, which has been supportive of the Affordable Care Act. (Edney, 9/22)
Seattle Times: Washington State Would Lose $10B Through 2026 With Latest Obamacare Repeal Plan, Study Says
The billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid proposed in Senate Republicans’ latest and perhaps final attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act would be devastating to children across Washington, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell said Friday. Named after its lead sponsors, Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the repeal bill would end the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, which has provided insurance to about 600,000 people in Washington. It would also end the federal subsidies that help people buy private insurance. (Gutman, 9/22)
Concord Monitor: HHS Head: GOP Health Bill Could Result In $820M N.H. Medicaid Cut
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeffrey Meyers predicted a sharp financial toll on the state’s Medicaid program if the federal Graham-Cassidy health care bill passes, and warned of funding shortages that could result from the bill’s block grant system. Speaking at a Monitor editorial board meeting Wednesday, Meyers said that the proposed legislation could cause a loss of about $820 million in Medicaid funding between 2020 and 2026, citing calculations made by his office. (DeWitt, 9/23)
The CT Mirror: CT Says It Would Lose $7 Billion Under Teetering ACA Overhaul Plan
Federal healthcare funding to Connecticut would be reduced by about $7 billion, and “dramatic numbers” of individuals would lose coverage or have it reduced between 2020 and 2026 under the latest Republican proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the state’s budget office said Friday. (Rigg, 9/22)
Detroit Free Press: Opponents Gather In Detroit To Oppose Latest Obamacare Repeal Attempt
The bill would also end the Medicaid expansion that 31 states, including Michigan, and Washington, D.C., took advantage of under Obamacare and overhaul the funding for traditional Medicaid. In Michigan, more than 670,000 people signed up for the Medicaid expansion program. “The current bill will be devastating for patients and Michiganders who are finally getting health care they need and deserve,” said Wright Lassiter, president and CEO of the Henry Ford Health System. (Gray, 9/22)
Arizona Republic: Arizona's Medicaid Program Would Lose $10.4 Billion Under Senate Plan
The state legislative report issued this week predicts Arizona's Medicaid program would lose $10.4 billion from 2020 through 2026 under the health-care bill introduced by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., when compared with funding authorized under the current health-care law, the Affordable Care Act. (Alltucker, 9/22)
