Thoughts On Graham-Cassidy: ‘Bad Idea’; ‘Shoddiest’ Repeal Idea Yet; ‘Ideological Crusade’

The Washington Post: Another Execrable Health-Care Bill Proves Bad Ideas Never Die
Over the next week and a half, Republican senators may try one last time to repeal and replace Obamacare. The latest bill, from Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), Dean Heller (Nev.) and Ron Johnson (Wis.), is about as execrable as the others that GOP lawmakers previously failed to approve. The process by which Republicans would pass it would be as sloppy and partisan as the one to which senators such as John McCain (R-Ariz.) objected earlier in the summer. The outcome would be no less destructive. The big difference now is the clock; the procedural window for passing a health-care bill along straight party lines will disappear at the end of the month, spurring Republicans to try one last time. That is a sad excuse to rush through — without even an attempt at bipartisanship and without a complete Congressional Budget Office assessment — a half-baked bill that would harm millions. (9/19)

Bloomberg: The Latest Obamacare Repeal Is The Shoddiest Yet
The new version, sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, would do a number of things to a health care system that millions rely upon. A main selling point is giving states additional ability to act on their own -- which means that virtually all of the popular protections of the Affordable Care Act, including on pre-existing protections, would be at risk -- and also slashing health care funding. What exactly would it do? It's not much clearer than that now and won't get much clearer until next month. The Congressional Budget Office has announced they "will not be able to provide point estimates of the effects on the deficit, health insurance coverage, or premiums for at least several weeks." (Jonathan Bernstein, 9/19)

USA Today: Obamacare Repeal Is An Ideological Crusade Past Its Sell-By Date. Give It Up, GOP
Just when Democrats thought it was safe to either stop paying attention or go full Don Quixote on Medicare For All, Obamacare repeal is back. When an entire political party has campaigned and won for seven years on getting rid of a law that was about as popular as President Trump (as in not very), it’s hard to move on. We get that. And who would have thought the country would change its collective mind, just when Republicans won control of the whole government? (Jill Lawrence, 9/19)

Bloomberg: Graham-Cassidy Is Already Hurting Health Care 
This last-gasp bill -- called Graham-Cassidy after the senators leading it -- would be extremely disruptive to hospitals and government-focused insurers. The proposal ends individual and employer insurance mandates, gives states a big chunk of money and then largely leaves them to run their own health-care markets. It would likely lead to large cuts to Medicaid, destabilize the individual insurance market, and significantly reduce insurance coverage. (Max Nisen, 9/19)

The Washington Post: The Graham-Cassidy Health-Care Bill Puts Millions Of Americans At Risk
The Senate is on the verge of launching a dangerous experiment. Having failed for months to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Republicans hope to dump onto the states the problem of providing low- and moderate-income Americans with access to health care. So long as they are determined to push forward without meaningful Democratic input, they have until Sept. 30 to act under Senate rules. The Graham-Cassidy bill — their last chance to meet this deadline — would simply hand the states block grants and abandon to them millions of Americans whom the ACA now helps. (Timothy Jost, 9/19)

Los Angeles Times: Repeal And Replace Is Back, And Scarier Than Ever
Like the villain in a slasher movie, Senate Republicans keep coming for the health insurance of tens of millions of Americans. After Sen. John McCain’s dramatic “no” vote seemed to finish off this year’s attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a proposal by two senators with mostly unearned reputations for moderation — Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — represents the latest threat to the many people who gained access to healthcare under President Obama. The scariest part is that it might just pass. (Scott Lemieux, 9/19)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Last-Ditch Graham-Cassidy Health Care Bill Is The Worst One Yet
Under cover of a fog of news, Senate Republicans have been trying to round up enough votes for yet another bid to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The bill they have in mind is in many ways worse than any of the three bills that failed this summer. After a dramatic thumbs-down “no” vote by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., killed the GOP’s third ACA replacement bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said it was time to move on. Congress went into recess until after Labor Day, and the nation’s attention turned to hurricanes, immigration, budget matters and rapprochement between President Donald Trump and Democrats. (9/19)

Los Angeles Times: Sen. Cassidy's Obamacare Repeal Bill Gets Blasted By The Health Secretary Of His Home State
Senate Republicans are preparing to vote on their last-gasp Affordable Care Act repeal bill without estimates from the Congressional Budget Office of its effects on the deficit, health insurance coverage, or premiums. So someone else has to step in to inform the senators of the measure’s grim consequences. (Michael Hiltzik, 9/19)

The New York Times: John McCain Faces A New Test Of His Principles
It looks as if John McCain’s Senate colleagues are going to test him once again. And the health insurance of millions of Americans depends on the outcome. This summer, when his party was trying to force a health bill with unprecedented haste — no hearings, no support from medical experts — McCain stood up for the idea of the Senate. By now, you’ve probably heard a line or two from his July 25 speech, shortly after learning he had aggressive brain cancer. But the full speech is worth reading. It’s McCain at his best, a defense of the imperfect but noble pursuit of democratic politics. (David Leonhardt, 9/19)

Roll Call: The Fatal Flaw For Republicans In Graham-Cassidy
The Republicans’ latest drive to repeal Obamacare is reminiscent of a poetry fragment from Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade”: “Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why.” Whatever happens with the bill likely slated to reach the Senate floor next week, it is hard to escape the feeling that this wild charge will end badly for the Republicans. (Walter Shapiro, 9/20)