Consumers Union, the policy and mobilization division of nonprofit Consumer Reports, writes to express our strong opposition to the recently proposed Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson bill. This bill is an even harsher version of the previous failed proposals that were rejected by the majority of Americans and by the Senate itself. By turning Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies and Medicaid expansion dollars into block grants to states, with dramatically reduced funding, the bill would eliminate consumers’ certainty that, no matter where in this country they live, their access to care and coverage is constant and assured. The proposal also fundamentally alters the Medicaid financing structure by drastically cutting funding and shifting billions of dollars of healthcare costs onto states and consumers.
The health insurance markets are in turmoil in the wake of continuous attempts to repeal the ACA and threats to stop funding cost-sharing reduction payments and enrollment outreach. As a result, consumers will quickly experience the fallout unless this effort to repeal the ACA is rejected. Consumers Union urges you, instead, to support the ongoing bipartisan efforts to stabilize and strengthen the insurance markets.