A bill nobody took seriously suddenly sounds serious.
Full repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is on the Senate’s agenda. It’s reported that the Republicans are planning to take action on it before September 30.
The bill is known as Graham-Cassidy.
Regardless of any differences the new proposal may have from previous health care legislative attempts to make health care legislation their own, it still wouldn't dramatically scale back what the “federal government spends on health care and undermining rules designed to guarantee insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, this new proposal would leave millions of Americans struggling to pay their medical bills and to get coverage.”
The Huffington Post’s Jonathan Cohn writes,
“The prospects for the new legislation are murky. The proposal has generated a ton of conversation in political and health policy circles in just the past week, with multiple outlets reporting that leadership is now thinking about floor action before Sept. 30. That’s the magic date when, because of parliamentary rules, Republicans lose their ability to pass repeal with just 50 votes. But much of the chatter is hype from supporters and it’s hard to know how much enthusiasm for the proposal actually exists.
Nevertheless, “It is, in other words, another shot at full repeal, although its GOP sponsors sometimes suggest otherwise ― and that’s one reason it has escaped heavy scrutiny until now.
“It’s difficult to say where this is all going. After all, the idea that repeal could get another look now, despite its unpopularity, in the form of a proposal that in some respects is more radical than its predecessors, is difficult to fathom. And yet here we are, fathoming it.”
NBC News’ Benjy Sarlin tells us what you need to know about what the new GOP health care bill does, where senators stand, and what would have to happen for it to pass.
Here's the story from the Huffington Post:
Here's the story from the Huffington Post:
By Jonathan Cohn
