The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
State braces for a tight vote
Obamacare to be decided next week
BRIDGEPORT — Speaking Friday to a room of two-dozen health care workers, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., encouraged Connecticut residents to lobby red states in opposition to the latest proposal to scrap Obamacare.
Later in the day it was reported that Arizona Sen. John McCain would break from his party and not support the Republican bill to replace the Affordable Care Act.
But while the bill teetered on the brink, it was not quite doomed on Friday afternoon.
The proposal to undo President Barack Obama’s health care law would shift money and decision-making from Washington to the states. It is expected to come to a vote next week, a deadline that’s focused the GOP on making a final run at the issue.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday tweeted in support of the bill, sponsored by senators Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La.
He chastised GOP holdouts and countered reports that it weakens a rule barring insurance companies from taking away coverage from people who are ill.
“I would not sign Graham-Cassidy if it did not include coverage of preexisting conditions. It does!” Trump said. “A great Bill. Repeal & Replace.”
Connecticut’s all-Democratic congressional delegation opposes the Graham-Cassidy bill.
“Sen. Blumenthal and (congressman) Chris Murphy oppose any change that isn’t the change they propose — that isn’t more government,” said state GOP Chairman J.R. Romano. “
By imposing a Medicare cap and increasing block grants, the bill would reduce total federal funding health care funding to both Connecticut and Arizona by around $5 million, according to a CNBC report citing a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The block-grant system would end incentives for Medicare expansion. And health care workers at Southwest Community Health Center, where Blumenthal spoke Friday, fear that a loss in Medicare dollars could increase the number of uninsured patients walking through their doors.
“If they can’t afford to pay for it, they don’t go, and then we end up seeing them sometimes years later with very serious medical problems,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dara Richards.
As Blumenthal prepared to leave the health center, a man asked if he should contact Republican lawmakers directly, even if he wasn’t their constituent.
“Yes,” Blumenthal said. “Especially if it’s by internet — then they don’t know where it’s from.”