God Speed John McCain!!
John McCain is the Senator of Arizona, hero of Vietnam, and the Presidential candidate who showed what grace in loss is all about. John McCain was the Senator who at the midnight hour, dramatically returned from brain surgery and turned his thumb down to defeat the Republican Senate’s last attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Today John McCain announced that in good conscience he cannot vote for friend Senator Lindsey Graham’s newest attempt to repeal Affordable Care Act.
McCain’s vote, combined with Kentucky’s Rand Paul (who believes that the Graham/Cassidy Bill doesn’t repeal enough), and one more Republican Senator will defeat the bill, and finally, put the Republican attempt to end the Affordable Care Act to rest.
Graham/Cassidy takes the amount of money currently spent for the Affordable Care Act, and sends it to the states in “block grants” where the states can use it to either continue what they are doing now, or alter it. The problem, over the next ten years the dollars are continually reduced, and then finally eliminated.
Graham/Cassidy ends the individual mandate, the centerpiece of the Affordable Care Act that hoped to keep it affordable. It calls for insuring those with pre-existing conditions, but it allows for separate pricing, so that most of those folks would be priced out of the market. And finally, its reduction in funding would end both Medicaid expansion and even rollback some of those who had Medicaid before the Affordable Care Act. While the Congressional Budget Office will be unable to “score” the bill before a September 30th vote, it is likely that twenty million or more people will lose insurance.
So, after the debacle of “skinny repeal” last month, why would the Republicans come to this again?
Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, answered the question for the Des Moines Register:
“You know, I could maybe give you 10 reasons why this bill shouldn’t be considered,” Grassley said. “But Republicans campaigned on this so often that you have a responsibility to carry out what you said in the campaign. That’s pretty much as much of a reason as the substance of the bill.”[1]
It’s not about what’s good for “the people,” it’s about Republicans campaigning for eight years to end “Obamacare, ” They have to try do it. The fact that it may well fail again isn’t the point. The major Republican donors have made it a “must do” priority. Going into the 2018 election, Senators must show they have used every opportunity to try to end Obama’s signature achievement.[2]
And it’s an integral part of the overall Republican strategy on taxes. If they can find a way to pass repeal, they well then have over $300 Billion to use for their expected tax cuts.[3]
The clock is ticking. The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that after September 30th, the special rule that allows for a fifty-one vote passage (or fifty with the Vice Presidential tiebreaker) will expire, returning the Senate to normal rules, where sixty votes are required for passage.
What will Senator Murkowski of Alaska, or Senator Susan Collins of Maine do? Both voted against the “skinny repeal,” and neither have committed either way on the current legislation. If either or both announce that they will not support, then Majority Leader Mitch McConnell won’t bring the bill to the floor for a vote. The pressure on these two must be incredible. I’m sure they are waiting on the Presidential tweet!
If this bill fails, it will allow a bipartisan attempt to revamp and improve the Affordable Care Act to continue. Senate Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander and Democratic Senator Patty Murray were working on this process before the introduction of Graham/Cassidy (and the presentation of a single payer proposal by Senator Bernie Sanders.) Ten governors, five Republicans and five Democrats, have endorsed this attempt and oppose Graham/Cassidy.
And, as far as insurance companies and medical providers are concerned, they need a stable environment to establish pricing and policies. After nine years it is time for the Affordable Care Act to become established law, with the Congress working to fix and improve, rather than destroy. Thank God for the courage of some Republican Senators, like McCain, who have determined to put country ahead of party.
[1] http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2017/09/20/chuck-grassley-regardless-substance-republicans-must-support-health-bill/685674001/
[2] https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/21/1700305/-Voters-hate-Republican-healthcare-bills-but-the-donors-who-matter-demand-repeal
[3] https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/like-other-aca-repeal-bills-cassidy-graham-plan-would-add-millions-to-uninsured
