Greetings!
In a couple of hours, CNN will be hosting a debate on whether or not the Affordable Care Act of 2010 should be repealed and replaced with a GOP version offered by Senators Bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham. While every Democrat has thus far indicated they will not support the passage of the bill, it’s not dead in the pipeline yet, at least technically. Only 51 yes votes are required to pass it, but under the senate rules, the window for a simple majority is available only until September 30th.
The C/G bill has not had no vetting in terms of CBO financial/budgetary scores or substantive hearings, except for one hearing this afternoon. Thus CNN has offered a venue for the public (if one is a subscriber of cable or some streaming bundle packages) to debate the merits of keeping ACA intact for now, or repealing the bill altogether and replacing it with this new bill. The debate will be moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, and the event starts at 9ET/8CT/6PT.
Update: Senator Susan Collins of Maine has issued a written statement that she opposes the Graham-Cassidy bill.
This post serves as an open thread for other news today as well as liveblogging the event.
Allowing insurance companies to charge more for age, pregnancy, pre-existing conditions is wasteful, not cost-effective. #HealthCareDebate
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) September 26, 2017