ALERT - Act Now to Stop Irreparable Medicaid Cuts!

posted by Chris Sparks on Wednesday, September 20, 2017

ALERT – Act Now to Stop Irreparable Medicaid Cuts!

Latest Avalere data on Graham/Cassidy

The next few days are critical!

Call Congress at (202) 224 3121 and

click here to send your Senators an email to VOTE NO.

The process by which Senate Republicans can pass an Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal/replace bill by a simple majority budget process called reconciliation (and thus not requiring Democratic support of any kind) ends next week, at the end of September.

The Graham/Cassidy bill is now presenting a major threat to Medicaid – it replicates cuts presented in previous health proposals (using exact language from the Better Care Reconciliation Act – BCRA). According to earlier Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, it will cut Medicaid (outside of expansion) by $175 billion between 2020-2026, and $39 billion will be cut from the Medicaid program in 2026 alone.

The situation has gotten worse. Last night, Chairman Alexander (R-TN) of the Senate HELP Committee who was leading bipartisan ACA fix efforts announced that the bipartisan deal is dead. That leaves the door wide open for Graham/Cassidy passage. Republican Senators are being told that the bill will benefit their state – that is false. This is a bill that seeks to save billions of federal dollars, not make policy improvements to health care programs.

The ACA will be replaced by block grants with likely less funding to states than they currently receive. and all of that money stops flowing completely to states in 10 years. The Medicaid program will be cut significantly and states will be expected to either pick up the bill or make tough decisions about whose lives are most at stake.

So here's the timeline:

There are two Jewish holidays in the next two weeks that shorten the Senate session calendar. Today, Senators leave to observe Rosh Hashanah and will return Monday. They will have to pass a bill by Wednesday or Thursday because Yom Kippur (also observed by the Senate) begins at sundown next Thursday.

We will soon see a new Congressional Budget Office summary on the impact of Graham/Cassidy, and we expect the bill to be pushed hard next week to get to passage. We need three Republican Senators to oppose the bill in order for it to fail. Key Senators that could stop the bill are the same champions that ANCOR has awarded Congressional Leadership Awards to this year for defending our programs – Senator McCain (R-AZ), Senator Collins (R-ME), and Senator Murkowski (R-AK). Please make sure that if you are a constituent, or have connections in their states, that they hear from you!

IF YOU LIVE OR HAVE FRIENDS, FAMILY, OR COLLEAGUES IN STATES WITH REPUBLICAN SENATORS THEY MUST HEAR FROM US THAT THE GRAHAM/CASSIDY BILL WILL CREATE IRREPARABLE HARM TO PROGRAMS THAT PROTECT PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES!

THE NUMBERS ARE CLEAR THAT THIS IS A BAD DEAL FOR STATES! MAKE SURE YOUR REPUBLICAN REPRESENTATIVES IN THE HOUSE ARE RECEIVING THE SAME MESSAGE!

Capitol  Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

ANCOR One Pager on Graham/Cassidy

ANCOR Action Alert

Graham/Cassidy Text

• Medicaid per capita cap section begins Section 124, page 65
• Provider tax reduction is Section 123, page 64
• Penalization to states that overspend, page 66
• Per capita formula base period, page 68
• Per capita formula inflation rate (CPI-M+1% until 2026 then CPI-M), page 76

Limited HCBS demo (we have intel this is for fear that per capita caps will end some state HCBS programs and need demo money to survive), page 96