12 Ways Cassidy-Graham Affects Obamacare

12 Ways Cassidy-Graham Affects Obamacare

Robert Donachie
Capitol Hill and Health Care Reporter
4:24 PM 09/18/2017

A group of four Republican senators has put forth legislation that enacts major changes to the framework of Obamacare, repealing many of the Affordable Care Act’s provisions while keeping its most popular feature.

Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Dean Heller of Nevada and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin released legislation Wednesday to repeal and replace major portions of Obamacare with a system of block grants. Effectively, the legislation changes the funding mechanism for Obamacare and tries to promote state innovation in the implementation of health care.

Here is a layout of the repeals, changes and features of Obamacare that stay the same under the Graham-Cassidy bill:

Repeals

Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion program
Subsidies for private insurance companies (cost-sharing reductions) that lower the cost of obtaining health insurance for low-income consumers.
Tax credits that help consumers cover the cost of insurance premiums.
The individual mandate that forces consumers to either purchase health insurance or pay a penalty for forgoing coverage.
The employer mandate that requires businesses of a certain size to offer employees affordable health insurance.

Amends

The bill makes some changes to Obamacare taxes. For example, the Graham-Cassidy bill would repeal the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices, which the medical industry has lobbied against for years.
The bill also amends what is considered an “essential health benefit (EHB)” under the current health care system. Graham-Cassidy would provide states with the opportunity to obtain waivers that would allow them to eliminate some EHBs.
Obamacare legally prevented insurance companies from setting a cap on the amount of money they would pay out to cover an enrollee. Under the Graham-Cassidy bill, states that applied for EHB waivers could be granted some wiggle room in setting limits on how much they pay to cover someone. It wouldn’t be fully repealed, but, since EHBs and limits are entwined, it could provide states some flexibility.
Pre-existing conditions could see some changes. If a state obtained an EHB waiver, it could possibly charge different premium rates based on health status.
The bill could also provide insurance companies with the opportunity to charge different premium rates based on age.
Graham-Cassidy would increase the amount of money people can invest in health savings accounts (HSAs). The bill would allow people with HSAs to use their accounts to help cover the cost of premiums.

Keeps

Graham-Cassidy keeps the most popular provision of Obamacare, that allows consumers under the age of 26 to stay on their parent’s health insurance.

The fate of the bill is still unknown. The three Republican senators that struck down the party’s seven-month push to repeal and replace Obamacare in July are threatening to once again thwart Republicans’ last-ditch effort to upend the American health care system.

Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine are all signaling that they might vote against their party’s latest proposal to repeal Obamacare.

http://dailycaller.com/2017/09/18/12...cts-obamacare/

No mention of of the blocks put on medical Doctors for certain procedures and tying the Dr.s hand and not allowing them to treat patients. The insurance companies save money when for example a man reaches the age of 70 the Oncologist is no longer allowed to send patient to a biopsy on the prostate. Told to me by my husbands urologist. Some test are no longer allowed after a certain age for men and women, even children. More or less you are a senior and you haven't many years left anyway so why waste money. This saves the insurance companies money millions in a year. Obamacare actually tells the professionals that treat patients what is allowed when treating patients. I have heard this from several Dr.s in all fields.

The average life span of Americans has gone down under Obamacare which is all anyone needs to know to know that Obamacare has to go. Anything that repeals the tax mandates and opens up interstate underwriting "erasing the lines" that Trump has talked about will help kill it. We have to pass something to start the death of Obamacare beginning with repealing the tax mandates. Without the mandates, Obamacare is dead as a door-knob.

September 18, 2017 By Kirsty Jane
JUST IN: Senate Republicans Close In On Obamacare Repeal Bill

The new Republican effort to repeal Obamacare is building steam in the Senate and the bill’s co-author, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, thinks he has enough votes to get the bill passed.
<strong>https://youtu.be/NJF05TL4nXU
From Sarah Palin

Per Politico:
Sen. Bill Cassidy Friday sought to rally support for the last-ditch Obamacare repeal plan he co-authored, saying he believes he’s on the verge of winning the final votes needed to jam it through the Senate.
Cassidy claims that as many as 49 GOP senators have expressed support but doesn’t have a hard whip count with just days left to use a fast-track process allowing the bill to pass with a simply majority. And his search for the elusive 50 “aye” votes got harder Thursday, when Sen. Rand Paul announced his opposition.

Cassidy does believe to have enough votes to get the bill passed:
That leaves Cassidy and Graham with the slimmest margin for error. With Democrats unified against any attempt to dismantle Obamacare, Republicans can only absorb two defections and still have Vice President Mike Pence cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of the bill.
Cassidy cited a Thursday closed-door Republican lunch as a turning point in favor of the bill.
“I’m pretty confident we’ll get there on the Republican side,” he said, calling the midweek discussion what “may have been my best day as a senator.”
“We’re probably at 48, 49, and talking to two or three more,” he said.
Cassidy is also hoping President Donald Trump lends a helping hand:
Cassidy and Graham are also expecting Senate Republican leadership and possibly President Donald Trump to lend support in the coming days, to push it over the finish line.
“I’m hoping that the president will show the same enthusiasm to repeal Obamacare that President Obama showed to pass it,” Graham said on Wednesday.
But doing it all before the end of the month remains a long shot. The CBO has not yet scored the bill’s effects, and senators are still sorting through how their states would fare under legislation that would dismantle Obamacare in favor of sending block grants to individual states.

http://eheadlines.com/just-in-senate...e-repeal-bill/

It would be a great thing if Republicans would hold together and pass a repeal/replace bill that eliminates the tax mandates.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...gFA_bigger.jpgSenator Rand Paul
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#GrahamCassidy is amnesty for Obamacare. It keeps it, it does not repeal it. I will keep working with the President for real repeal.
8:21 AM - Sep 20, 2017