Getting a look at the Senate Republican healthcare bill after weeks of secrecy is like peeking under a rock.  There’s a lot under there that you don’t really want to see – and would like to believe doesn’t really exist.  Unfortunately, the Senate version of the American Health Care Act is very real – and dangerously close to becoming law.

Prognosticators who said the House-passed bill would be “dead on arrival” in the Senate, or who predicted that the Senate would be a moderating influence on the legislation, were dead wrong.  Instead, Senate Republicans have clearly chosen to put political expediency above the health of our most vulnerable citizens.

In some ways, the Senate bill is slightly less onerous than the House version; in other ways it’s worse – especially for the old, the sick, and the poor.  In a press statement today, National Committee President Max Richtman calls the bill “unconscionably cruel.”

This is a lose-lose for seniors and the American people.  The biggest loss is that the AHCA ends the Medicaid program as we know it.  Astoundingly, the Senate bill makes even deeper cuts to Medicaid than the House did.  This is devastating news for today’s and tomorrow’s seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s, cancer, the after-effects of stroke and other serious conditions who depend on Medicaid to pay for long-term care.  Millions will lose Medicaid coverage over the next ten years.” – Max Richtman, President and CEO of NCPSSM

 

The Washington Post clearly explains why the Senate bill hurts Medicaid beneficiaries even more than the House version:

Medicaid would be funded by giving states a per capita amount or block grant, beginning in 2021. The amount would grow more slowly than in the House bill, meaning bigger spending cuts overall. – Washington Post, 6/22/17  

This is why the Senate healthcare bill is so hazardous for older Americans in several other ways:

*It still permits insurance companies to charge older Americans five times more than young adults. 

*The tax credits that replace Obamacare subsidies are still too meager to make up for net increases in older Americans’ premiums.

*Though it forbids insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, the waivers of essential benefits mean older patients with chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer, or heart disease could see their premiums skyrocket.

 *Like the House bill, the Senate legislation weakens Medicare by reducing the solvency of the Part A Trust Fund.

Only the young, healthy and wealthy will truly benefit from this bill, whose true purpose is not to facilitate health coverage, but to give a multi-billion dollar tax break to the rich and the pharmaceutical companies. Our family members and friends who cannot afford exorbitant premiums and out-of-pocket costs will suffer.  Some will doubtless go without healthcare altogether.  Their health will deteriorate, and when they arrive at the doorstep of Medicare, they may be in worse condition – which can increase the financial burden on Medicare, too. 

 

Make no mistake, if the bill passes the Senate and the House, President Trump will sign it into law. The National Committee has identified 11 GOP Senators who could be persuaded to stop the AHCA with sufficient public pressure.  As few as three Republican dissenters could kill this bill. Americans of conscience must demand that their Senators put people before party and defeat this heartless legislation before it’s too late.

 

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For the latest on Trumpcare and its devastating implications for seniors, watch “Behind the Headlines” on Facebook Live from Capitol Hill.