The net result, according to a Brookings Institution analysis released Friday? Thirty-two million more people uninsured by 2027, relative to the current baseline.
One factor in the bill's apparent (although not yet certain) demise: Cassidy-Graham has mobilized nearly the entire American health-care community in opposition. Dozens of national advocacy groups representing patients, doctors, insurers and hospitals have issued strongly worded condemnations of the proposal.
The American Medical Association warns it violates doctors' oath to “first do no harm.” Kaiser Permanente says that any changes to health-care law should “increase access to high-quality, affordable care and coverage for as many people as possible” and that “the Cassidy-Graham bill does not meet any of those tests.”
In the view of the American Hospital Association, “this proposal would erode key protections for patients and consumers and does nothing to stabilize the insurance market now or in the long term.” The American Heart Association, March of Dimes and 14 other patient and provider groups urged the Senate to “oppose this legislation.”
Strikingly, The Washington Post was unable to identify any medical associations that support the measure. Some antiabortion groups, such as the March for Life and National Right to Life, do support the bill, but they are not primarily medical or health-care-oriented in focus. If you know of any such groups that support the measure, please drop me a line.
We've gathered statements by dozens of medical groups below. For inclusion in the list, the groups have to have a medical focus, representing patients, providers, insurers or hospitals. The groups also have to have a national focus; because of the sheer number, including state-level medical groups or affiliates of national organizations would be difficult.
This list is almost certainly incomplete, given the huge universe of advocacy groups focusing their efforts on conditions that sometimes affect only small numbers of people. But it gives a sense of the breadth and depth of the medical community's opposition to Republicans' latest attempt to repeal Obamacare.
- Adult Congenital Heart Association
- ALS Association
- Alzheimer's Association
- Alzheimer's Impact Movement
- American Cancer Society
- American College of Emergency Physicians
- American College of Physicians
- American College of Preventive Medicine
- American Diabetes Association
- American Academy of Family Physicians
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American Cancer Society
- American College of Emergency Physicians
- American College of Physicians
- American College of Preventive Medicine
- American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
- American Diabetes Association
- America's Essential Hospitals
- American Foundation for the Blind
- American Health Care Association
- America's Health Insurance Plans
- American Heart Association
- American Hospital Association
- American Liver Foundation
- American Lung Association
- American Medical Association
- American Nurses Association
- American Osteopathic Association
- American Occupational Therapy Association
- American Psychiatric Association
- American Psychological Association
- American Public Health Association
- American Society for Addiction Medicine
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
- Amputee Coalition
- The Arc
- Arthritis Foundation
- Association for Community Affiliated Plans
- Association of American Medical Colleges
- Association of University Centers on Disabilities
- Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
- Autism Society
- Autism Speaks
- Autistic Self Advocacy Network
- Big Cities Health Coalition
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
- Catholic Health Association
- Children's Hospital Association
- Center for Medicare Advocacy
- Coalition to Stop Opioid Overdose
- Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities
- COPD Foundation
- Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
- Family Voices
- Federation of American Hospitals
- HIV Medicine Association
- Infectious Diseases Society of America
- JDRF
- Lutheran Services in America
- Kaiser Permanente
- March of Dimes
- Medicare Rights Center
- National Association of Medicaid Directors
- National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
- National Association of School Nurses
- National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship
- National Down Syndrome Congress
- National Health Council
- National Institute for Reproductive Health
- National Kidney Foundation
- National Multiple Sclerosis Society
- National Organization for Rare Diseases
- Planned Parenthood
- Public Health Institute
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Trust for America's Health
- WomenHeart