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AMA urges Senate to reject Graham-Cassidy proposal

The AMA recently sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Charles Schumer strongly opposing the Graham-Cassidy legislation, emphasizing that the bill would result in the loss of health insurance coverage for millions of Americans while destabilizing health insurance markets.

“Similar to proposals that were considered in the Senate in July, we believe the Graham-Cassidy Amendment would result in millions of Americans losing their health insurance coverage, destabilize health insurance markets, and decrease access to affordable coverage and care,” James L. Madara, MD, CEO and executive vice president of AMA, wrote in the letter.

The Graham-Cassidy proposal violates the principle of “first, do no harm” to patients and fails to match AMA’s vision to ensure affordable, meaningful and accessible coverage, stabilize and strengthen the individual health insurance market, and guarantee that safety-net programs such as Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program are adequately funded, according to the association.

The AMA expressed particular concern that the bill would repeal the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits, cost-sharing reductions, small business tax credit and Medicaid expansion. The association is also concerned that the legislation would offer inadequate and temporary block grant funds that would override spending on marketplace subsidies and the Medicaid expansion. In addition, the Graham-Cassidy proposal would convert the Medicaid program into a system based on per-capita-caps, which would limit federal support for the care of vulnerable patients, according to AMA.

“We sincerely urge the Senate to take short-term measures to stabilize the health insurance market by continuing to fund cost sharing reduction payments,” Madara wrote. “Over the longer term, we urge Congress to work in a bipartisan, bicameral manner to increase the number of Americans with access to quality, affordable health insurance, and we extend our commitment to work with you to achieve this goal.”

The AMA’s letter follows the American College of Physician’s letters to Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy, MD, (R-La.), as well as McConnell and Schumer, which also conveyed strong opposition to the Graham-Cassidy proposal.

Furthermore, several other patient and provider groups, including the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Arthritis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation among others, expressed their opposition to the Graham-Cassidy proposal in a joint statement.

“Affordable, adequate care is vital to the patients we represent,” they wrote. “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.”