BEYOND THE NUMBERS
In Case You Missed It…
This week at CBPP, we focused on health, Social Security, poverty and inequality, and the economy.
- On health, Jacob Leibenluft, Edwin Park, Matt Broaddus, and Aviva Aron-Dine found that the bill from Senators Bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would cause millions to lose insurance and seriously destabilize the individual health insurance market. Park and Broaddus pointed out that the plan’s damaging cuts to federal health care funding would grow dramatically in 2027. Jessica Schubel explained how Cassidy-Graham would end Medicaid expansion in 2020, leaving millions of low-income Americans uninsured. Hannah Katch examined how, similar to other ACA repeal bills, Cassidy-Graham would cap and deeply cut Medicaid. David Kamin and Richard Kogan found that Cassidy-Graham’s dramatic funding cliff, occurring when the block grants expire, isn’t required by congressional budget rules and would have a lasting, negative impact.
Judith Solomon explained how the bill would create huge funding inequities across states. Leibenluft clarified that no state would win under Cassidy-Graham, despite how the bill would redistribute funds across states. Michael Leachman detailed how Cassidy-Graham would harm state budgets. Schubel pointed out how Cassidy-Graham’s restrictions on provider taxes would threaten state Medicaid programs. Aron-Dine specified that the bill’s harmful effects on Alaska can’t be fixed, and along with Park and Broaddus, she fact-checked Senators Cassidy and Graham’s own estimates of the bill’s effects.
Leibenluft warned that the rushed Senate consideration of the bill would be designed to hide its severe flaws. Schubel and Solomon revealed how the bill’s Medicaid cuts would reduce access to home- and community-based services. Schubel highlighted how the proposal puts coverage to American Indians and Alaska Natives at risk. Jesse Cross-Call explained how the Senate’s focus on Cassidy-Graham is derailing bipartisan efforts to extend federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
We rounded up our Cassidy-Graham analyses and updated our Sabotage Watch tracker.
- On Social Security, Kathleen Romig and Guillermo Herrera examined President Trump’s and House Republicans’ proposed cuts to Supplemental Security Insurance for poor children with disabilities. We updated our backgrounder on the Social Security Trust Funds.
- On poverty and inequality, Tazra Mitchell reviewed how a congressionally mandated commission urged strengthening evidence-building capacity, yet the House is considering cutting proven low-income programs. Robert Greenstein clarified that although universal basic income sounds attractive, it would be likelier to increase poverty than to reduce it.
- On the economy, we updated our explainer on how many weeks of unemployment compensation are available.
Chart of the week – Cassidy-Graham Medicaid Per Capita Cap Would Cut $175 Billion in Federal Funding Through 2026
A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently. Here are some highlights:
Tax Cuts for the Rich by Another Name
New York Times
September 21, 2017
Last-ditch Obamacare repeal would be poison
USA Today
September 20, 2017
The Sponsors Of Obamacare Repeal Are Trying To Fool America — And Fellow Republicans
Huffington Post
September 19, 2017
Winners and losers in GOP’s last-ditch health overhaul
AP
September 20, 2017
The Republican Health Care Zombie Is Back
New York Times
September 19, 2017
Don’t miss any of our posts, papers, or charts — follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
