Editorial: Moran should reject Graham-Cassidy

Although Congressional Republicans have already failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act twice this year, they're at it again with legislation introduced by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy. Like its predecessors, the bill would end health insurance mandates under the ACA, weaken protections for people with pre-existing conditions and drastically cut federal support for insurance subsidies and Medicaid. It would also end Medicaid expansion by 2020 and leave millions of Americans uninsured.

The Congressional Budget Office found that the two previous GOP bills -- the American Health Care Act and the Better Care Reconciliation Act -- would each leave much more than 20 million Americans without health insurance by 2026 (25 million and 22 million, respectively). CBO researchers explained that this spike in the uninsured rate would happen "primarily because the penalty for not having insurance would be eliminated." They also pointed out that "lower spending on Medicaid and substantially smaller average subsidies for coverage in the nongroup market ... would also lead to increases in the number of people without health insurance."

Considering the fact that these are all major provisions of the new bill, we can expect a similar impact on the number of uninsured Americans. However, we don't know exactly what the CBO analysis on the new bill will look like, and its sponsors aren't eager for us to find out. That's why they finalized it with only a couple of weeks until the Sept. 30 deadline to pass legislation in the Senate with a simple majority instead of the typical 60 votes. This doesn't leave the CBO with enough time to produce a full report on the bill's effects.

Because there are enough Republican votes in the Senate to pass the Graham-Cassidy bill with a simple majority, the GOP leadership recognizes that this may be the last opportunity to repeal the ACA for some time. But it's also an opportunity for Sen. Jerry Moran to assert his independence by rejecting another health care proposal that would leave tens of millions of Americans without health coverage. Moran's office says he "continues to have conversations with Kansans and his colleagues regarding Graham-Cassidy and reconciliation," but we hope his opposition to the BCRA a few months ago is an indicator of the decision he might make on the new bill.

The Graham-Cassidy bill would give states near-absolute discretion on how they manage their health care systems. Through block grants, it would also transfer federal dollars to the 19 states that didn't expand Medicaid -- including Kansas. While this may seem like an incentive for Moran to support the bill, he should remember that Medicaid expansion under the ACA would bring money to the state as well. Moreover, by providing states with greater latitude on the provision of certain forms of care, the bill has the potential to reduce access to essential treatments and diminish protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Moran has repeatedly stated that maintaining these protections is one of his top priorities for any health reform proposal.

While we disagreed with Moran when he announced his support for a repeal of the ACA with no replacement, we applauded him for opposing the last terrible health care plan his colleagues proposed. The Graham-Cassidy bill is a reckless, last-minute attempt to fundamentally alter the American health care system for the worse, and Moran should repudiate it as well.

Members of The Capital-Journal's editorial advisory board are Zach Ahrens, Matt Johnson, Ray Beers Jr., Laura Burton, Garry Cushinberry, Mike Hall, Jessica Lucas, Veronica Padilla and John Stauffer.

Credit: The Capital-Journal Editorial Board