As Democrats blast Senate GOP health-care plan, Toomey says it’s a ‘constructive first step’

June 23--U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration joined the cacophony of criticism heaped on the U.S. Senate Republican health-care plan unveiled on Thursday as U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey defended it as a "constructive first step" to replacing the Affordable Care Act.

"The deeper and more devastating cuts to Medicaid in this plan make it even crueler than the House plan," Wolf said in a statement. "Some politicians in Washington are completely disconnected from the reality of how cutting Medicaid will damage real Pennsylvania families and communities."

Wolf said the plan, which was written by a 13-member Senate working group that included Toomey, R-Lehigh County, would decimate Medicaid funding -- hurting seniors, disabled children, working families and rural hospitals -- simply to give tax cuts to the wealthy.

"The Senate plan prioritizes tax cuts for the wealthy, modest deficit reductions and achieving a political victory over families who need lifesaving care," said Wolf.

In a separate Twitter post, Wolf said he was "gravely concerned" about the effect repealing the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare, "would have (on) hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians."

On a conference call, Toomey said he was "very disappointed at the way Gov. Wolf has chosen to mischaracterize what I've been doing and what we're doing here." Specifically, Toomey said Wolf has lamented "deep cuts" to Medicaid, yet Toomey said annual spending on Medicaid will increase.

"One has to wonder how he would react if there actually were cuts," Toomey said.

A statement released by Toomey called the Senate GOP plan "an important and constructive first step in repealing Obamacare and replacing it with a better, stable, consumer-driven health-care system for all Pennsylvanians."

The Senate Republican proposal "does not pull the rug out from anyone currently covered by Obamacare," Toomey insisted, adding that it maintains Medicaid expansion for working age, childless adults, but asks states to "contribute their fair share" over a seven-year plan.

On the other hand, Casey, D-Scranton, echoed Wolf, describing the GOP plan has a "health-care scheme" that hurts the middle class, seniors, children and those with disabilities to fund tax breaks for the rich.

"The bill decimates Medicaid, which provides health for over 722,000 Pennsylvanians with a disability and 1.1 million children," Casey said. "This scheme still includes an age tax on Americans between the ages of 50 and 64, undermines protections for those with pre-existing conditions and takes away coverage for substance abuse treatment, which is vital in combating the opioid epidemic."

Casey said it is "obscene" to force Americans to lose coverage while giving tax cuts to the wealthy.

Thursday afternoon, several Wolf administration officials held a conference call with reporters to echo those warnings and detail how the plan would hurt state residents.

Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller said she has "serious concerns" about the Senate plan's impact on Pennsylvanians and all Americans, saying that it ignores the issue of people not being eligible for subsidies to buy coverage.

About 20 percent of those enrolled in the Pennsylvania marketplace for coverage do not qualify for subsidies, Miller said. If Senate Republicans want to address actual issues, they would expand the eligibility for subsidies, "not exacerbate our current problem," she said.

While on the campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump promised better health insurance, expanded coverage and lower prices, Miller said, and anything short of that "should be dead on arrival" in Congress.

Dr. Karen Murphy, the secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said she was worried about the overall weakening of the in-state health-care system as well as the impact on public health funding.

Hospitals will be negatively affected by cuts to Medicaid, she said, and Pennsylvania hospitals account for 600,000 direct and indirect jobs, and $54 billion in economic activity every year. "The net effect of this legislation will be a serious destabilization of hospitals in Pennsylvania," she said.

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