By Miriam Raftery

September 20, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – Like the proverbial Lazarus rising from the dead, efforts to repeal Obamacare have been revived. Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy have introduced a measure that would repeal Obamacare with no replacement.  The bill would give block grants allowing states to let insurance companies deny coverage or charge more for preexisting conditions, and to eliminate lifetime caps on coverage for people needing costly care to survive.  It also cuts funds for Medicaid expansion and eliminates all subsidies for low and moderate income Americans. 

By Miriam Raftery

AARP warns that seniors age 50-64 will pay $8,500 a year more for health insurance premiums each year, on average, under the GOP plan. Read the bill here. 

March 10, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) –Major organizations representing patients, doctors, nurses and senior citizens have come out against the “American Health Care Act” ( AHCA or “Trumpcare”), Congressional Republicans’ plan for replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA Obamacare) that’s being fast-tracked through Congress. 

The American Medical Association (AMA),  the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and others warn that the plan will weaken benefits and make healthcare much more expensive than many people are paying now, whether you’re on an ACA plan, private health insurance or Medicare/Medicare.   

“As drafted, the AHCA would result in millions of Americans losing coverage and benefits,”  Dr. Andrew Gurman, prseident of the AMA, the nation's largest organization of doctors, said Wednesday. "By replacing income-based premium subsidies with age-based tax credits,  AHCA will also make coverage more expensive—if not out of reach—for poor and sick Americans. For these reasons, the AMA cannot support the AHCA as it is currently written.”