“The analysis released this evening by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) raises even more concerns about the Graham-Cassidy health care repeal bill, which would create chaos across our nation’s health care system and cause grave harm to tens of millions of women and families. This bill was so hastily crafted, and then revised just this weekend in a craven attempt to win more Senate votes, that it was impossible for the CBO to conduct the thorough assessment that every senator should require before voting for legislation of this magnitude and importance.
Today’s incomplete analysis shows that millions more people would lose their health insurance if Graham-Cassidy became law, and millions would lose the Medicaid coverage they rely on. Indeed, nothing in the CBO analysis reassures us in any way.
We know the Graham-Cassidy bill would be a disaster, especially for women. It would rob millions of people of their coverage, drive up costs, gut Medicaid, allow states to waive key consumer protections and guarantees of coverage for maternity care and other essential health benefits, eliminate no-cost-sharing coverage for critical preventive services like birth control and defund Planned Parenthood. It would put those of us with pre-existing conditions at risk. And it includes onerous new restrictions that would effectively bar private insurance coverage for abortion care.
Graham-Cassidy is strongly opposed by the people who know women’s health best: the nation’s leading women’s health care providers. There is no question that it would undermine women’s health, well-being and economic security. This bill is wrong for our nation, and the process used to create it is wrong for our democracy. We urge every senator to put aside partisan politics, vote no on this terrible legislation, and then work across the aisle to strengthen access to affordable, comprehensive coverage with the protections all women and families need and deserve.”
Read the National Partnership’s statement for the record submitted to the Senate Finance Committee today here.
