This year has been a real nail-biter for healthcare. The Republicans have vowed to repeal and replace, but have not been united in their method of how to do that. Senators Bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham recently proposed bill they had hoped would be the one that finally does it.
Jimmy Kimmel, who’s son recently has had multiple open heart surgeries, has been an outspoken supporter of quality health coverage. Bill Cassidy recognized that and made an appearance on Kimmel’s show where he came up with the “Jimmy Kimmel test”. He said that any bill he supports would do 4 things:
1. Coverage for all
2. No discrimination based on pre-existing conditions
3. Lower premiums for middle class families
4. No lifetime caps
While its great he promised that, the actual bill he proposed has a major stipulation that makes it a bit of a moot promise. The proposed bill gives the states the right to decide to what level this is true. This means that a state could choose to have none of these.
This wasn’t the only problem. Arizona senator John McCain said this in regards to the bill when he voted against it:
“I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal. I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried. Nor could I support it without knowing how much it will cost, how it will (affect) insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it. Without a full CBO score, which won’t be available by the end of the month, we won’t have reliable answers to any of those questions.”
Other key senators, like Rand Paul and Susan Collins have also expressed the same concerns about the bill as Sen. McCain, and will likely vote no for the same reasons.
It’s nearly been a year since the election and the Republicans’ mission of repealing and replacing still has no end in sight. Time will tell exactly what will happen with healthcare, but one thing is clear now: many our representatives on both side of the aisle want to improve our healthcare system, while only propose lame duck bills.
