Healthcare

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on healthcare, on the Graham-Cassidy bill--and I see my good friend from Arizona is waiting, so I will just be a minute more--I have heard that a few Senate Republicans will be releasing a new healthcare bill today. No one has seen the exact print of Graham-Cassidy--both good men--but according to most reporting, it would take away even more benefits and hurt average Americans even more than the previous bills would have that were defeated.

Republican Governors like John Kasich have said that they are not for this bill. He said: ``Trying to pass something through here in the 11th hour--I don't get it . . . I'm not for it . . . I'm for stabilizing the insurance markets.'' Republican Governor Baker said that the Graham- Cassidy bill would ``dramatically, negatively affect the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We're talking billions and billions of dollars over the course of the next 4 or 5 years.''

So I hope that Republicans, instead of trying to repeal the ACA again with the Graham-Cassidy bill, will work with us to make it better. I hope they will heed the good words of my dear friend from Arizona, which are to go through regular order--that is the crucible; that is what this NDAA bill is doing--instead of trying to jam something through at the last minute. That will not work.

We need to start working together in a bipartisan way to improve the existing healthcare law. It starts with guaranteeing the cost-sharing program. Senators Alexander and Murray are genuinely working on a compromise proposal, which we hope will be ready soon.

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