It’s a big day in our fight to protect health care, as we may be just days away from a vote on the disastrous Graham/Cassidy health care repeal bill. Here’s what’s going on today.
New bill text released, and it’s just as bad as the original text.
The Graham/Cassidy bill rewrite was announced overnight, and surprise, surprise, it’s just as harmful to millions of Americans as the original version. The age tax on seniors is still in the bill. The decimation of Medicaid is still in the bill. Millions of people will suffer higher premiums or lost coverage if the bill passes.
So what is new? The new text further eliminates protections for people with preexisting conditions, while trying to buy off the senators needed to pass the legislation. We CANNOT let that happen.
The CBO can’t score the bill before a vote.
Meanwhile, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office made an announcement this morning:
CBO says it won’t have time to determine the health care bill’s impact on coverage and premiums ahead of vote: https://t.co/0Vt7HOi0hC
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) September 25, 2017
Which means some Senators will be voting for Graham Cassidy without having any idea of the extent of premium increases and coverage losses. That isn’t just cruel, it’s dangerous.
Finance Committee hearing today.
On the Hill, the Finance Committee will hold a sham hearing today on the Graham/Cassidy repeal bill. The hearing is an attempt by republican Senators who support the bill to make it seem like they are doing their due diligence on the legislation. But the fact is this is far from regular order, and there has been more debate about the repeal bill on late night TV and cable news than in the Senate.
