Most Americans Unaware GOP Plans Would Make Deep Funding Cuts To Medicaid

Initial reaction from religious leaders was negative to the Better Care Reconciliation Act, the Senate's health care reform measure that was unveiled June 22 in "discussion draft" form by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.

Democrats said the GOP measure would take coverage away from people and raise their out-of-pocket costs, all in the name of paring taxes on the wealthy. "All of those individuals will feel it. People who may not directly have Medicaid but have family members with Medicaid will certainly see this". Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the plan, which he calls a discussion draft, will stabilize insurance markets and cut costs to consumers. But its fate remains uncertain.

The Republican Senators said that the proposed healthcare bill does not seem to repeal Obamacare and lower the health care costs for the Americans.

ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE: The Senate proposal is broadly similar to the bill passed by House Republicans last month.

Obama was apparently echoing a concern from President Trump, who reportedly called the House version of the bill "mean".

The bill in its current form may not just alienate conservative voters who think it doesn't go far enough but also may not assuage moderates enough to get their votes, either.

"We agreed on the need to free Americans from Obamacare's mandates".

The emerging Senate bill was described by people on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. More than half a dozen GOP senators have expressed problems with the measure, and a defeat would be a humiliating setback for Trump and McConnell on one of their party's top priorities.

Republicans can afford not more than two defections as they control only 52 seats to pass the bill.

The House proposal would leave Colorado with a $14 billion budget shortfall, while leaving almost 600,000 people without coverage from the program, a Colorado Health Institute analysis found.

Beginning in 2020, the Senate measure would also limit the federal funds states get each year for Medicaid. Republican senators from states that expanded Medicaid, such as Ohio's Rob Portman, want to extend that phase-out to seven years.

The Senate bill would phase out extra money Obama's law provides to 31 states that agreed to expand coverage under the federal-state Medicaid program. Unlimited federal dollars now flow to each state for Medicaid, covering all eligible beneficiaries and services.

The Senate bill, negotiated in secret, is an effort to dismantle President Barack Obama's health care law. And Susan Collins of ME reiterated her opposition to language blocking federal money for Planned Parenthood, which many Republicans oppose because it provides abortions.

In fact, the Senate plan follows the House lead in completely changing how the government pays for health care for the poor and disabled. Such a prohibition is a major demand by conservatives, but special rules the Senate is using to ease passage of the legislation restrict the policy changes the measure can include.

In the Senate, Democrats are determined to defend a law that has provided coverage to 20 million people and is a pillar of Obama's legacy.

Senate GOP bill: Generally follows House standard.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that the new Republican bill was "every bit as bad as the House bill" and "even worse" in some ways. University of Houston Professor Seth Chandler, who specializes in health and insurance law, said that with all the focus on how the GOP health bill significantly reduces Medicaid funding, the effects on Medicare have become something of an afterthought.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., who faces a competitive re-election race in 2018, says he has "serious concerns about the bill's impact on the Nevadans who depend on Medicaid".