Outlook From The States: Concern For The Health Care Safety Net; Criticism For The GOP Senate Plan
Editorial pages across the country offer strongly worded cautions about the current direction of the health care debate and how the current policy debate would play out in their respective areas.
San Antonio Press-Express:
An Awful Health Care Bill From Senate
This bill is bad for Texas and bad for the country. A Congressional Budget Office analysis of the measure, released Monday, makes that clear. Some 22 million more Americans will be uninsured by 2026, only a slight improvement of the 23 million estimated in a House bill. (6/26)
The Wichita Eagle:
What Americans Don’t Know About GOPcare Can Kill Them
If three caring, courageous Republican senators — out of 52 — do not step forward this week, the Affordable Care Act will be renamed. But finis Obamacare? Not so fast. This is not the definitive, wholesale repeal the GOP promised for seven long years. Instead, the GOP approach is piecemeal. It repeals the taxes on wealthy people and insurance companies and the mandate that everyone either have health coverage or pay extra taxes. (Davis Merritt, 6/27)
Kansas City Star:
Today, Medicaid. Tomorrow, Medicare And Social Security.
Will cutting Medicaid help the federal deficit? To a point. But the cuts are in the Senate bill largely to pay for tax reductions, which will cost the government $541 billion through 2026, according to CBO. The tax cuts in the Senate bill are aimed primarily at high-income earners and investors. This might not mean much to most Americans who aren’t on Medicaid and aren’t high-income earners. But for Americans of a certain age, the Senate bill should be pretty scary because Medicare and Social Security are probably next. (Dave Helling, 6/26)
Richmond Times-Dispatch:
An End To Health Care For Poor
If Republicans succeed in passing this legislation, millions of parents who work hard but struggle to make ends meet will find it prohibitively expensive to get their children the care they need... And suffering most of all will be the 60 percent of children with disabilities — and their families — who currently receive Medicaid coverage. (Henry Waxman, 6/26)
Lincoln Journal-Star:
Trump Budget Would Shred Safety Net
This budget devalues the needs of many low- and moderate-income Americans and would severely damage the nation’s social safety net. With its reduction of $1.7 trillion in social services, it severely constricts or eliminates programs that are essential to the health and welfare of families and individuals. The budget includes major cuts to Medicaid, the critical health care program that protects children, low-income single adults, older Americans, and Americans with disabilities. Medicaid covers nearly one in four Americans and, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, accounts for one of every six dollars spent on health care in the country. (Terry Werner, 6/27)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
GOP Lies On Health Care Are Shameless
Under the Senate bill being pushed by Price and other Republicans, deductibles would soar even higher. They would soar not by accident, but as a result of conscious, deliberate policy decisions written into the bill that are designed to drive those deductibles higher. (Jay Bookman, 6/26)
Arizona Republic:
Ducey Needs To Speak Up On Trumpcare
It’s now been three days since we learned the disastrous impact the bill would have on Arizona. That our leaders would be faced with an impossible, untenable choice. (Laurie Roberts, 6/26)
Boston Globe:
Charlie Baker Could Lead On Health Care Debate
Baker has been warning that Massachusetts will lose money if a Senate health care bill, which essentially phases out Medicaid, passes and becomes law. But other Republican governors are stating the truth more bluntly: Those federal spending cuts will mostly hurt the poor, the elderly, women, and children. (Joan Vennochi, 6/27)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Medicaid Must-Haves, A Tax Break To Be Spiked, In Ohio Budget Conference Committee
For a stronger, more prosperous Ohio where children have a chance to thrive, low-income working Ohioans have the dignity of health care, and those caught up in the opioid tsunami can be supported in recovery, here is what Ohioans need from lawmakers now in conference committee finalizing the next 2017-19 state budget:. (6/27)
