Republicans have called Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, a federal overreach, and say block grants would give states discretion on how to provide healthcare coverage.
Winners & Losers
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation analysis, five states would stand to lose more than 30 percent of their federal healthcare money from 2020-2026: New York (down 35%), Oregon (down 32%), Connecticut (down 31%), Vermont (down 31%) and Minnesota (down 30%). All are Democratic leaning.
The analysis found that six Republican-leaning states would get at least 40 percent more in federal funds: Mississippi (up 148%), Texas (up 75%), Kansas (up 61%), Georgia (up 46%), South Dakota (up 45%) and Tennessee (up 44%).
In total dollars, the state with the largest forecast loss of funds is California, losing $56 billion. The biggest gainer would be Texas, with a $34 billion increase. California, the most populous U.S. state, is Democratic leaning. Texas is the second most populous state and the largest Republican-leaning one.
“It’s absolutely true to say the Graham-Cassidy bill over time levels out on a per-person basis the way we distribute money on healthcare, which I think resonates with most Americans,” Pence said.
McCain, Collins and Murkowski were the three Republicans who voted against the last Republican healthcare legislation brought up in the Senate, which failed 51-49 in July. Paul, who voted in favor of that bill after previously expressing misgivings, on Thursday went to Twitter to underscore his criticism that the Graham-Cassidy bill does not go far enough to erase Obamacare.
The insurance industry, hospitals, medical advocacy groups, such as the American Medical Association, American Heart Association and American Cancer Society, the AARP advocacy group for the elderly and consumer activists have come out against the bill, urging a bipartisan fix to the current law that was abandoned this week.
More medical and civil rights advocacy groups lined up against the Graham-Cassidy bill on Thursday, including the American Psychological Association, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the NAACP.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank, estimated that the bill would cause more than 30 million people to lose insurance.
The Graham-Cassidy proposal would let states opt out of the requirement that insurers charge sick and healthy people the same rates, causing a furor among advocacy groups that say it could make health insurance unaffordable for those with pre-existing conditions.