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Sixteen Patient and Provider Groups Oppose Graham/Cassidy Bill

September 18, 2017 Categories: Advocacy News

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 18, 2017 — Sixteen patient and provider groups oppose the proposal put forward by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) that will negatively impact patients’ access to adequate and affordable health coverage and care.

This bill would limit funding for the Medicaid program, roll back important essential health benefit protections, and potentially open the door to annual and lifetime caps on coverage, endangering access to critical care for millions of Americans. Our organizations urge senators to oppose this legislation.

Affordable, adequate care is vital to the patients we represent. This legislation fails to provide Americans with what they need to maintain their health. In fact, much of the proposal just repackages the problematic provisions of the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), which we opposed. Fortunately, the BCRA was voted down by Congress earlier this year.

Our organizations, instead, strongly support the bipartisan hearings spearheaded by Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and by Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in the Senate Finance Committee. These hearings, focused on market stabilization and other critical issues, represent a modest, yet promising first step towards addressing our nation’s health care challenges. Bipartisan agreement on the Children’s Health Insurance Program also represents a welcome return to regular order, and we applaud the committees for undertaking this critical work.

We urge Congress to continue this important bipartisan effort rather than advancing proposals that would weaken access to the care Americans need and deserve. We stand ready to work with both sides of the aisle to build long-lasting bipartisan solutions both now and in the future.

Signers:

ALS Association

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network

American Diabetes Association

American Heart Association

American Lung Association

Arthritis Foundation

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Family Voices

JDRF

Lutheran Services in America

March of Dimes

National Health Council

National Multiple Sclerosis Society

National Organization for Rare Diseases

Volunteers of America

WomenHeart

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For Media Inquiries:

Retha Sherrod: [e-mail], 202-785-7929

http://newsroom.heart.org/news/sixteen-patient-and-provider-groups-oppose-grahamcassidy-bill