New York Daily News

Eek! Trumpcare still lives on Hill

- BY NOAM N. LEVEY Nicole Hensley

WASHINGTON — A last-ditch Republican push to roll back the Affordable Care Act appeared to pick up momentum Monday even as opposition from leading patient advocates and health care organizati­ons mounted, setting the stage for another potentiall­y dramatic Senate vote on the future of the 2010 law, often called Obamacare.

Prospects for the new repeal legislatio­n – sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) – remain uncertain, but the proposal won an important endorsemen­t Monday from a key Republican governor, Arizona’s Doug Ducey.

That raised the possibilit­y that ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo on Monday became the latest potential 2020 out presidenti­al candidate to come in support of a federal single-payer health care system. “I think that would be a good idea,” Cuomo (inset) said when asked about the issue on WNYC. The issue of single-payer health care is expected to be a major factor in the 2020 presidenti­al race. Potential Democratic candidates like Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachuse­tts support it. Cuomo also said he’d sign a state single-payer health care bill if “it was not incongruou­s with what the federal government would do to us.” He called it a “very exciting possibilit­y,” but added that “I think it’s going to be a federal play.” PRESIDENT TRUMP’S eldest son, has reportedly ditched his Secret Service detail — for good.

Trump Organizati­on executive Donald Trump Jr., 39, decided last week to forgo being tailed by the cash-strapped agency in an effort to find more privacy, The New York Times reported Monday, citing a senior administra­tion official.

CNN’s Jim Acosta also reported Monday that White House adviser Kellyanne Conway also is refusing the state’s senior senator, John McCain, who cast the critical vote in July to kill the last repeal push, could back the new bill. McCain has said he would be influenced by Ducey’s position, but has also called for a less partisan, less rushed approach to health care legislatio­n.

Supporters of the Graham-Cassidy measure aim to bring it to the Senate floor next week, just days ahead of when special rules expire that could allow it to pass with 50 votes, rather than the 60 that major measures typically require.

That has prompted leading patient and medical groups to intensify warnings that the GrahamCass­idy proposal could devastate coverage for tens of millions of vulnerable Americans. President Trump has vowed to sign an Obamacare “repeal and replace” law.

The bill would go far beyond repealing key parts of President Obama’s signature health care law. It would fundamenta­lly change how states and the federal government divide the cost of providing health care.

At the same time, the measure would give states broad new authority to completely overhaul their health care systems and change or eliminate consumer protection­s.

It would also redistribu­te tens of billions in federal aid, taking it away from states such as California, Illinois and New York that have expansive safety nets and giving more to states that do not, including many Republican-majority states in the South, according to independen­t analyses.

The nonpartisa­n Congressio­nal Budget Office said Monday it would not be able to produce a full analysis of the bill for “at least several weeks” although it would offer a “preliminar­y assessment” of some aspects next week.

None of the country’s leading patient or healthcare groups has backed the legislatio­n, which the bill’s authors say would lead to better care and lower costs. federal protection. She was one of the few people outside of Trump’s family with a detail. The agency declined to confirm who in Trump’s family is “currently receiving Secret Service protection,” The Times said.

The Secret Service told Congress in August that 1,000 of its special agents will have exhausted their budget cap on overtime and salaries by the end of September if they continue to protect the large Trump brood.

 ??  ?? As President Trump (right and below, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres) attended UN General Assembly Monday, protesters (left and right) rallied nearby at Grand Central Terminal.
As President Trump (right and below, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres) attended UN General Assembly Monday, protesters (left and right) rallied nearby at Grand Central Terminal.
 ??  ?? Kenneth Lovett
Kenneth Lovett

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