Internists reaffirm 'strongest possible opposition' to Graham-Cassidy proposal

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-09/acop-ir092517.php

Public Release: 25-Sep-2017
Internists reaffirm 'strongest possible opposition' to Graham-Cassidy proposal
ACP says revised bill is even more flawed and harmful to patients
American College of Physicians

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ACP is alarmed by the anticipated impact of the new provisions of this version because they will do even more harm:

States will be able to more easily opt out of Essential Health Benefits and could also allow annual and lifetime limits on patient coverage, resulting in bare-bones coverage.

States will only have to submit to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a broad, undefined statement that they "shall" provide access to affordable coverage with insufficient or non-existent guardrails of what that is or requirements to ensure that such coverage is truly affordable. States could offer plans with lower or no "actuarial equivalent" standards, meaning higher deductibles and out of pocket costs for patients.

GCHJ still has devastating cuts and caps on Medicaid and puts an end to the program's expansion. The bill also is a massive redistribution of funding from states that expanded Medicaid coverage to the most vulnerable to those that did not, resulting in billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid expansion states.

Any temporary increases in funding to a few states does not make up for the damage that will be done to their residents, and those of other states, resulting from eliminating essential patient protections and capping and cutting Medicaid.

The bill discriminates against Planned Parenthood and the right of patients to choose their own source of care, by denying Planned Parenthood access to federal funds, reducing access to primary and preventive care for millions of women.

ACP remains dismayed at the violation of regular order because the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will have no time to do a reasonable cost and coverage estimate of GCHJ impact by the time a vote is taken, there will be no committee mark ups, and no time for other independent analyses and meaningful input from patients, physicians, nurses, hospitals, and the states.

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