Charlie Baker signs onto letter opposing latest Republican health care bill
Massachusetts would lose more than $5 billion in federal funding if it passed.
Gov. Charlie Baker opposed the first Republican health care bill introduced in Congress. He opposed the one that passed in the House. And he opposed the versions that failed in the Senate.
And now, once again, as Republicans look to push through another bill rolling back President Obama’s Affordable Care Act ahead of a critical procedural deadline, Baker opposes it.
The Massachusetts Republican was one of 10 governors to sign a letter urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to table the new repeal plan and instead support ongoing bipartisan efforts in the Senate to stabilize the health insurance markets.
“Only open, bipartisan approaches can achieve true, lasting reforms,” the group wrote.
1/ Gov. Baker joins bipartisan group of governors asking the Senate not to consider the #GrahamCassidy amendment: https://t.co/OSsEOYZwKm pic.twitter.com/DUopp9dBpp
— Charlie Baker (@MAGovArchive) September 19, 2017
Baker was joined by four fellow Republicans — Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott — and five Democrats.
The Senate’s new repeal proposal, a bill sponsored by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, would, among other things, replace federal funding received by states through the ACA with block grants through 2026.
Supporters say it would give states more flexibility over how to spend on health care. However, in many states like Massachusetts, which has expanded health care coverage the most since the ACA’s implementation, the bill would mean deep cuts.
According to numbers provided by Cassidy’s office, Massachusetts would see the federal funding it would receive for health care in 2020 cut from $8.68 billion to $3.41 billion. The projected cut in funding — more than $5 billion — would be the highest of any state in the country.
Baker was asked about the Graham-Cassidy bill (before it gained such recent momentum) when he testified before the Senate in Washington, D.C., earlier this month on ways to stabilize insurance rates.
Baker said the proposal would “dramatically negatively affect the Commonwealth,” which would lose “billions and billions of dollars over the course of the next four or five years.”
“This particular proposal, in part because of the way it’s designed, has major consequences for a state like Massachusetts,” Baker said. According to STAT News, the states that would see the most drastic cuts are the ones that expanded Medicaid under the ACA.
Baker added that the bill mistakenly assumes the cost of health care should be the same everywhere across the country, regardless of differing wage levels and living costs.
