Leading Medicare Advocates Voice Opposition to Graham-Cassidy Bill
—Letter Urges Senators to Oppose Block Grants and Medicaid Per-Capita Caps—

Washington, DC—The Medicare Rights Center and the Center for Medicare Advocacy sent a letter to Senate leadership today in opposition to the recently unveiled “Graham-Cassidy” bill. The letter voices both organizations’ deep concerns that the Graham-Cassidy bill, like its predecessors, would take away access to affordable health care for millions of Americans, especially older adults and people with disabilities. The bill is particularly destructive to the Medicaid program and puts long-term care and services, including nursing home care and the ability for people to stay in their homes, at risk through damaging per-capita caps. The letter urges the Senate to instead pursue bipartisan solutions to strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicaid, and Medicare through an open and transparent process.

“This plan, like those before it, makes no attempt to enhance health care access or affordability for American families,” said Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center. “Instead, it creates chaos, permanently damages Medicaid, eliminates protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and strips coverage from millions of Americans. This is not the path forward.”

“It’s awful to have to fight for health care—yet again,” said Judith Stein, executive director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, “but we’re ready. We are appalled the Senate is trying to take away coverage, without public input or a complete Congressional Budget Office score. Americans want to know what the Graham-Cassidy bill would do to their families’ health care coverage. We won’t give up the fight for continued access to the ACA, Medicaid, Medicare, and quality health care.”

Read the letter.

Contact: Mitchell Clark – mclark@medicarerights.org – 212-204-6286

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The Medicare Rights Center (www.medicarerights.org) is a national, nonprofit consumer service organization that works to ensure access to affordable health care for older adults and people with disabilities through counseling and advocacy, educational programs, and public policy initiatives.

The Center for Medicare Advocacy (http://www.medicareadvocacy.org) is a national, nonprofit, non-partisan law organization that works to advance access to comprehensive Medicare coverage and quality health care for older people and people with disabilities through legal analysis, education, and advocacy.

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