Latest McConnell Plan: A Tennessee Tragedy

Latest McConnell Plan: A Tennessee Tragedy

HEALTHCARE REPEAL WOULD DEVASTATE TENNESSEE

New GOP Plan Would Cause 526,000 Tennesseans to Lose Coverage

(Nashville, Tennessee) – After yet another failed attempt to pass a disastrous GOP health care bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is now doubling down and siding with the most right-wing Members by introducing an even worse plan in a last ditch effort to repeal and destroy our health care, all while giving tax breaks to corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

 

McConnell’s full repeal plan comes at a hefty price for Tennessee: 526,000 Tennesseans would lose health coverage, a 79 percent increase in the number of uninsured in the state.

 

Aside from massive coverage losses, full repeal would devastate Tennesseans in other ways:

  • Tennesseans would lose $10.777 billion in federal financial assistance through the insurance marketplaces from 2019-2028, leading to a dramatic spike in the number of uninsured.
  • 203,112 Tennesseans would lose an average monthly advanced premium tax credit of $299, which currently helps them pay for insurance.
  • Tennessee would lose $15.9 billion in federal Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding, currently providing lifelines to 1.5 million Tennesseans.
  • 57,000 Tennessee jobs would be lost, including 17,000 jobs in the healthcare sector.

 

Tennessee Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker have previously expressed concern about repealing health care without anything to replace it, but now is the time to see whether they will keep their word to their constituents or sell them out for a political win.

 

“Full repeal will have dire consequences across the country: premiums will double, Medicaid expansion will end, and the wealthiest will get an immediate, huge tax break,” said Tullahoma family physician and Alliance for Healthcare Security spokesperson, Dr Thomas Phelps . “This bill not only will take us back to the days before health reform when millions struggled to get access to quality, affordable health care — it will leave us even worse off. Instead of voting to proceed on this repeal bill, Senators Alexander and Corker should start working with Democrats to keep what works and fix what doesn’t in the current law.”