NLC to Congress: Reject the Graham-Cassidy Health Care Proposal

WASHINGTON — September 19, 2017 — Late last week, a group of U.S. Senators released legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  While the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has yet to release its estimated impact of the bill, given its similarities to the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), it would likely result in millions of additional Americans losing their health insurance over the next decade, destabilizing the individual market and increasing average premiums.

In response, National League of Cities (NLC) President Matt Zone, councilmember, Cleveland, issued the following statement:

“Once again, cities are calling on Congress to reject a last-ditch and hastily constructed attempt to fix America’s health care system. This proposal, veiled as an attempt to give decision-making power to states, ultimately reduces the amount of Medicaid funding available to states, weakens guarantees for essential health benefits in all plans and passes an unsustainable financial burden to cities, states and medical providers.

“We hope Congress listens when local leaders and hundreds of other organizations say that health care reform cannot strip medical insurance from millions of Americans. Members of Congress should stop toying with unstable health care markets, and instead join the bipartisan efforts of Senator Lamar Alexander (Tennessee) and Senator Patty Murray (Washington) to craft legislation that will actually address rising premiums and stabilize marketplaces.”