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The last train is leaving Reconciliation Station. Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare — derailed just weeks ago — now seem back on track. GOP senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Cassidy M.D., of Louisiana, Dean Heller of Nevada, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin seek 47 more votes (including, if necessary, that of…

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Friday announced that he will vote against the latest proposal to repeal ObamaCare, potentially dooming the legislation and, with it, the GOP’s last shot at passing a health care overhaul this year. “I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal. I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and…

Democrats once liked a federalist solution to health care, and Sen. Lindsey Graham was one of those who worked with them. In 2007 he and Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold proposed the State-Based Health Reform Act that would have given states even more freedom than Graham-Cassidy. But these days Democrats fear that state laboratories would discredit…

Based on estimates, overall federal funding for coverage expansions and Medicaid would be $160 billion less than current law under the Graham-Cassidy bill over the period 2020-2026. Thirty-five states plus the District of Columbia would face a loss of funding. Federal funding under the new block grants would be $107 billion less than what the…

Two GOP senators are likely “no” votes: Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Maine’s Susan Collins. But Arizona’s John McCain, who spoiled this summer’s attempt at ObamaCare repeal, seems unlikely to repeat his performance and sandbag his good friend Lindsey Graham. That means the 50th vote will come down to Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, who says she’s still trying…

As the Graham-Cassidy (Heller-Johnson) health care bill appears to achieve a rapid intensification of support, so too have lies and exaggerations about its contents. Some people are very mistrustful about the states’ willingness and ability to provide a regulatory environment in which broad segments of society will have decent health care. The competency and motivation of the…

The ACA spends more than twice as much on expanding Medicaid as it does on premium tax credits for the exchange. By consolidating funding for both entitlements, Graham-Cassidy allows states to pool resources to increase the attractiveness and stability of the individual market. In doing this, it meets a clear need, but it also facilitates…

The idea of turning more power over to the states has long been advocated by conservatives, but there are compelling reasons for liberals to get behind devolving power from the federal government. When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, it left many of the details to the discretion of the Department of Health…

Cassidy-Graham has an important, albeit fixable, flaw—what we might call “asymmetric federalism.” The core idea in the bill is to take the money Obamacare spends on expanding coverage to the uninsured and give it to state governments in the form of block grants. States, in turn, could use these block grants to address the health-care…

Senate Republicans’ last-ditch attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare rests on the unlikely collaboration of a veteran senator who can’t stand health policy, a wonky freshman who has never passed major legislation and a former senator who lost his seat a decade ago. Together, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and former Pennsylvania Sen.…