By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Dan Nowicki | The Republic
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced his support Monday for a Senate Republican attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
The legislation, introduced by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., would keep much of the “Obamacare” tax structure in place but would give the money back to states in the form of block grants for them to design their own health-care systems.
The legislation would get rid of subsidies for private insurance and end the expansion of Medicaid. Under the proposal, states could keep their Obamacare programs or repeal them and replace them with new systems.
Ducey’s move could sway U.S. Sen. John McCain, who has previously said he consulted closely with the Republican governor’s office before he torpedoed the Senate effort in July to repeal former President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law. Back then, McCain voted against the Senate GOP’s “skinny repeal” despite Ducey saying he was OK with it.
NEWS RELEASE
(Editor’s note: News releases are published unedited, unless they contain factual errors.)
Sen. Steve Farley’s Statment on Doug Ducey and Congress’ latest attempt to hurt Arizonans’ healthcare
Phoenix, AZ — Today Doug Ducey endorsed the misguided Graham-Cassidy bill as “the best path forward to repeal and replace Obamacare.” I can think of 1.6 billion reasons why Governor Ducey is flat-out wrong, and that is just the damage to our Arizona healthcare system in dollar figures. The harm to individual Arizonans and our hospitals is still unknown.
Perhaps Governor Ducey doesn’t know that under Graham-Cassidy, Arizona stands to lose $1.6 billion by 2026 in federal funding for healthcare, ensuring that many Arizonans will lose coverage (according to a report by Center on Budget and Policy Priorities). This loss of funding will cause real harm to our state. We all know a family member, friend, or co-worker who’s is covered by expanded Medicaid or other parts of the Affordable Care Act in Arizona. For those with serious health issues, the consequences could be dire.
While we know the exact dollar figure Arizona stands to lose, we don’t yet know how many Arizonans will lose coverage. Endorsement of a bill that could hurt our state that badly without knowing the facts of the bill amounts to governmental malpractice. Once again, Governor Ducey is demonstrating that he is governing for his DC conservative friends, not the people of Arizona. It’s time for new leadership.”
