Skip to main content
Statement

Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson Bill ‘Reckless and Harmful’

September 13, 2017
Health Care

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Statement from Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director and CEO of MomsRising, a national online and on-the-ground organization of more than 1 million mothers and their families
“In yet another partisan, secretive attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Senators Lindsey Graham, Bill Cassidy, Dean Heller and Ron Johnson today introduced a bill that would strip Medicaid funding, weaken protections for those with pre-existing conditions and lead to massive numbers of people losing the coverage they need. This bill is just as bad as – if not worse than – any of the repeal bills that came before, and threatens the bipartisan efforts to improve health care for millions that began last week. It is reckless and harmful, and its passage would devastate our families and our economy. Low-income women, families, people with disabilities, the elderly, and those who live in rural and medically underserved communities would suffer the most, with a compounding impact in Black, Latinx, Asian, Native American, and LGBTQ+ communities.
 
“Like its predecessors in the House and Senate, the Graham-Cassidy bill would make health insurance less affordable, less accessible and less comprehensive. It would reduce federal funding for the subsidies that help people afford insurance; let states obtain waivers to allow insurers to impose lifetime and annual caps and exclude essential health benefits – such as maternity care coverage and mental health care – from their plans; and embrace the same Medicaid cuts as the Senate’s failed health care repeal bill, gutting coverage for seniors, kids with disabilities and other vulnerable populations and effectively eliminating Medicaid expansion over ten years.
 
“For months, MomsRising members across the country have been speaking out in support of the Affordable Care Act and in opposition to any plan that would make our country less healthy and less prosperous. We urge the Senate to reject the Graham-Cassidy bill or any attempt to undermine the consumer protections of the Affordable Care Act, and instead work across the aisle to stabilize the insurance markets and improve the health care system our families rely on. It’s the right choice for our families, businesses, communities and economy.”
 

# # # #

MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.