Advertisement

Editorial: Floridians' health care now at risk in Washington

 
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., dramatically returned to the Senate for the first time since his brain cancer was diagnosed and cast the key vote that enabled Vice President Mike Pence to break the 50-50 tie and allow the health care debate to proceed.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., dramatically returned to the Senate for the first time since his brain cancer was diagnosed and cast the key vote that enabled Vice President Mike Pence to break the 50-50 tie and allow the health care debate to proceed.
Published July 27, 2017

The health care for millions of Floridians is now at risk. The U.S. Senate's dramatic vote Tuesday to begin debate on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act with no idea what will happen is a dangerous gamble with American lives and the national economy. Barring an unexpected bipartisan compromise, a handful of moderate Republicans should hold firm and defeat any attempt to kill the Affordable Care Act that would cost millions their health coverage.

With President Donald Trump flailing away on Twitter, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pulled out every stop. He repeated the false assertion that the Affordable Care Act is near collapse, and he told Republicans they had an obligation to fulfill years of promises to kill President Barack Obama's signature accomplishment. He acknowledged Trump's election came as a surprise, but "with a surprise election comes great opportunities to do things we never thought were possible.'' Then Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., dramatically returned to the Senate for the first time since his brain cancer was diagnosed and cast the key vote. That enabled Vice President Mike Pence to break the 50-50 tie and allow the health care debate to proceed.

It made for riveting television, but real lives are now at stake. The Senate's previous health care proposals are no better than the horrible version passed by the House. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates all of the key Republican bills would eliminate health care coverage for more than 20 million Americans by 2026 — including 1 million Floridans. Republicans can demonize the respected CBO all they want, but Sen. Marco Rubio cannot come home and tell that many constituents he voted to take away their health care.

Let's remember what is at stake for Florida. More than 1.7 million Floridians are receiving health coverage through the Affordable Care Act, and the vast majority of them have subsidies to help with the cost. Thousands more have been able to get Medicaid coverage they already were entitled to receive. More than 3.9 million Floridians receive Medicaid, including nearly half of the state's children and more than 455,000 residents in Tampa Bay. Any legislation passed by Congress that repeals the Affordable Care Act should not leave any of these Floridians without health care, and the cost of treating the uninsured is ultimately shared by taxpayers and those with health coverage who wind up paying higher rates.

Florida foolishly refused to accept federal Medicaid expansion money, which 31 other states accepted and which would have covered up to 900,000 more Floridians. But Florida should not be penalized by any new health care law that seeks to help the expansion states. Gov. Rick Scott wants Congress to give states block grants for Medicaid and let states design their own programs, but even this fervent opponent of the Affordable Care Act recognizes Florida does not get as much federal Medicaid money as it should now. It would take a miracle for this Congress to pass health care legislation that would not result in Florida further reducing its skimpy Medicaid benefits or capping enrollment.

Of course, miracles can happen. McCain essentially called for one in a short speech appealing to his Senate colleagues to restore trust in each other, work in a bipartisan fashion on health care and tune out the loudest voices on television and the Internet. With typical candor, he said he would oppose the current Senate bill and urged a return to consensus-building through the Senate's traditional reliance on holding committee hearings and amending legislation in public.

Such a return to normalcy could produce bipartisan legislation that would provide affordable, accessible health care to all Americans. In today's abnormal Washington, that would be a miracle.