Pressure Builds on Republican Senators to Vote NO on Dangerous Health Care Repeal Bill

The pressure continues mounting on Republican senators across the country to vote against the dangerous repeal bill that would strip 22 million Americans of health care – all in order to give giant tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. RepublicansSenators are feeling the heat in their home states, so much so that Senate Majority Leader McConnell has been forced to delay a vote until after the July 4th recess.

With the CBO’s confirmation that the GOP health care repeal bill is a disaster, it is clear that this bill hurts everyone from women and children, to middle-class families and older Americans, to people with pre-existing conditions and veterans.

 

Here are some of the headlines Republican senators are reading today:

 

OHIO

NPR: After Decline Of Steel And Coal, Ohio Fears Health Care Jobs Are Next

 

“1 in 4 private sector jobs in the county are now in health care. The region's biggest employer by far is the local hospital. Trinity Health System provides about 1,500 full-time jobs and close to 500 part-time jobs, more than Jefferson County's top 10 manufacturing companies combined.

“Still, unemployment in Jefferson County stands at 7 percent, 2 percent higher than the state overall. And health careleaders worry that the Republican proposals to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act could take many health carejobs away.

“Specifically, they're concerned about the rollback of Medicaid that is central to both the House and Senate bills. Ohio was among the states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA, adding 700,000 additional low-income or disabled people to the rolls.”

 

Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati hospitals tell workers: Speak out against ACA repeal in Senate

“At Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, president and CEO Michael Fisher urged employees Monday to contact elected representatives and to campaign through social media against the Senate bill as harmful to children. Cincinnati Children's is the 11th largest employer in Ohio and the second largest in the Cincinnati region, with more than 15,000 workers.

“‘We do not believe this legislation, as written, will meet the health needs of all kids,’ Fisher’s letter said. ‘Because kids don't vote, they often don’t have a voice in politics. They rely on us to speak up for them.’”

 

Cleveland Plain-Dealer: Healthcare reform could stifle growth of Ohio community health centers

“At Neighborhood Family Practice, an FQHC on Cleveland's West Side, for example, the center might have received something like $10 before the ACA for caring for an uninsured person, but now gets $100 for providing that care, according to Jean Polster, NFP president and CEO.

“‘It created a financial stability model for us where we could take risks and do this level of expansion,’ Polster said.”

 

WCPN: Three Northeast Ohio Hospitals Come Out Against Senate Health Care Bill

“Three Northeast Ohio hospitals say they oppose the Senate's healthcare bill introduced by Republicans last week.

“The Congressional Budget Office projects that 22 million people will lose coverage if the bill rolling back the Affordable Care Act passes. Cliff Deveny, interim CEO of Summa Health in Akron, says Obamacare helped 45,000 people in the Akron area get coverage.

“‘What we want to see is that they continue to access physician offices, get preventative care and improve their situation,’ he said, ‘and not push them back to a situation where they’re getting their care in the emergency room.’”

 

WEST VIRGINIA

Charleston Gazette-Mail: Six arrested in Capito’s office after day of protesting health care bill

“Because West Virginia expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, 172,605 citizens receive health care, according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. Long-term funding for Medicaid is under threat from the new bill. Citizens are hoping this will lead to Capito joining a slowly growing number of Republican senators who have said they won’t vote for the bill as is.

“One woman at the rally, Barbara Schau, has worked as a nurse for 40 years. She said the bill has several problems. Chief among them for West Virginia, she said, is that rural hospitals depend on Medicaid reimbursements to stay in business and, when Medicaid funding is reduced, they might not be able to stay open.

“She also said there are issues with taking away health care from poor citizens who rely on Medicaid or Children’sHealth Insurance Program.

“‘They’re taking away basic health coverage from the poorest of our population,’ she said. ‘It’s a sin, it’s nothing less than a sin.’”

 

100 Days in Appalachia: With rallies, sit-ins and arrests, West Virginia becomes a flashpoint in the debate over health care

“As the debate over proposed legislation on health care heats up, West Virginia has been a flashpoint of opposition to aRepublican-lead plan — with protests, rallies and sit-ins. With a high population of low-income residents, the increased grip of the opioid crisis and the fate of 184,100 Medicaid enrollees who would lose coverage under the GOPhealth care bill in West Virginia, the state serves as a go-to example for explaining what the plan might mean for the rest of America.

“According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score released Monday, 15 million fewer Americans will be insured next year under the bill. That number is expected to reach 22 million by 2026 – about a million fewer than a similar plan proposed by the House of Representatives….

 

“‘If either version passes, the effects will have a crippling impact on communities all throughout our great state,’ said Josh Sword of the West Virginia American Federation of Labor.

“Sword was referring to versions of the health care overhaul that have recently been drafted by the House and Senate, respectively.

“‘Hospitals, drug treatment facilities and countless other specialized care providers will have to close their doors due to the loss of federal funding to the system,’ Sword said.”

 

ARIZONA

AZ Central: Senate health bill will 'blow a hole' in Arizona budget, business leaders say

“In Arizona, hospital and health leaders are particularly worried about the proposed reductions to the Medicaid program, which provides coverage for about one in five people in this state.

“‘One of our tenets has been, if you are going to replace the ACA, you cannot increase the number of uninsured,’ said Steve Purves, CEO of Maricopa Integrated Health System.

“Purves said Maricopa, which serves as the region's main safety-net hospital system, would see a direct increase of $55 million to $75 million in uncompensated care should the Senate bill pass Congress.

“Purves said Obamacare's Medicaid expansion has allowed his health system and other hospitals to emphasize preventive care, in which insured patients get regular care to better manage chronic health conditions. If the Medicaid expansion is rolled back, Purves predicts more patients will lose their health insurance, delay preventive health careand seek emergency care when their health worsens.”

 

The Daily Courier: Senate health care bill could cost Arizona $7.1 billion

“The new Senate health care plan would cost Arizona at least $2.9 billion between next year and 2026 — and perhaps as much as $7.1 billion —according to a new analysis by the Ducey administration.”

“Or the state could avoid most of those costs simply by cutting off health care for more than 400,000 who got coverage in 2013 when Arizona took advantage of a provision in the Affordable Care Act — the very law Congress is working torepeal.”

 

Associated Press: Arizona hospitals: Health bill devastating

“The association representing Arizona’s hospitals says the Senate bill repealing much of the Affordable Care Act would be devastating to millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid for their care.”

“The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association issued a statement after Thursday’s release of the Senate bill saying it has been calling on leaders in Washington for months to find a workable replacement. It called the version passed by the House last month “a categorical failure” and said the Senate version is “equally troubling.”

“The group says the more gradual phase-out of Medicaid expansion now covering 400,000 Arizonans gives states more time to adjust. But that still will cause a “massive shift” of financial risk from the federal government to states,health care providers and patients.”

 

TEXAS

Texas Public Radio: Hill Country Healthcare Protest A Display Of Frustration

“This weekend, a choir called ‘The Impeaches’ took center stage at the main square. The vocal crowd of about 200 was a mix of men and women, old and young — all gathered against the Republican plan to change the ACA. One of them was Jane Crone, 73.

“’We just have to make our voices heard,’ Crone stated. ‘What’s going on is not in the best interest of the majority of Americans.’

“They waved handmade signs with provocative messages. One senior’s note read ‘Now you’ve pissed off Grandma.’ Thebill’s cuts to Medicaid threaten the 65 percent of people in nursing homes supported by Medicaid.”

 

KRISTV: CHRISTUS Health opposes plans to replace ACA

“The largest health care system has come out against plans to repeal and replace Obamacare. Christus Health System says that they fear many Texans will lose coverage over the proposed Senate or House version of the new health carebill.”

 

NEVADA

The Nevada Independent: Nevada school districts outline concerns with Republican health care bill in letters to Cortez Masto

“The superintendents of the three school districts — Nye, Washoe and Clark — outlined the way in which Medicaid funding helps them provide services to students with disabilities, offer vision, hearing and mental health screenings to children and pay for staff members, including nurses, counselors and therapists. The block-grant structure proposed in the health care bill would result in reduced funding for the state, harming the ability of school districts to provide medically necessary services, the superintendents wrote.”