FreedomWorks Issues Statement on Graham-Cassidy

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 -- FreedomWorks issued the following statement by on the amendment to H.R. 1628 offered by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La.:

"For now, we don't support nor do we oppose Graham-Cassidy. Although this amendment fails to meet more than seven years of promises to repeal ObamaCare and does not truly represent an approach grounded in the principles of federalism, there is a path to win our support.

"We are encouraged by the progress being made to provide states with more flexibility to waive certain ObamaCare regulations that are driving up the cost of health insurance coverage. These provisions need to be clarified and strengthened. We're concerned with the latitude provided to the Department of Health and Human Services to deny a waiver request. This may not be a problem in the current administration, but it may be under future administrations. The transition to a slower Medicaid growth rate in 2024 should be better phased in to avoid a new 'doc fix' scenario.

"Repeal of ObamaCare should be the ultimate goal for Republicans in Congress. We hope that the Graham-Cassidy amendment will be considered a step toward that goal, not the end, because, whether this amendment passes Congress or not, it's not 'repeal.'"