Senate's healthcare bill could be catastrophic

The tour will visit 20 states - including California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Maine, Kentucky and Wisconsin - to meet with local leaders about the bill, which Democrats say will harm citizens who receive health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

If the bill is enacted, the CBO estimates that by 2026, an estimated 23 million people now with health insurance will lose coverage.

The vote on advancing the legislation to a final vote is increasingly looking like it may happen at the end of the month, and if the bill runs into any more hurdles, it will not meet the GOP's goal of passage before the August recess. The CBO found, in part, "The Senate bill would increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to the number under current law, slightly fewer than the increase in the number of uninsured estimated for the House-passed legislation". On Thursday, state Department of Public Health and Human Services director Sheila Hogan said the bill would cause 133,000 Montanans to lose coverage by 2022. There, he told constituents that he "doesn't support the (health care) bill as it stands", though the Tribune noted that Hoeven also expressed confidence that the bill could be improved, and cited premium costs as an area of concern.

Starves state budgets of funds needed not just for health care but also for education, roads, and other needs.

U.S. Rep. Frederica S. Wilson represents Florida's 24th District. Last summer Blue Cross said it needed to raise its rates an average of 62 percent, while PacificSource requested a rate change of nearly 20 percent. Nursing homes average almost $90,000 per year, without Medicaid, millions of older adults and families would be financially overwhelmed if these services were limited or no longer available.

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Health insurance is more than a policy, it's peace of mind.

Now veterans groups are putting heat on Senate Republicans undecided about the bill, such as Sen. Hospitals, especially smaller rural hospitals, would be hurt.

"If it weren't for the funding of some of these programs ... there would have been no support system that saw the good in me and said, 'You deserve to live, ' " Robinson said at the news conference. And without Planned Parenthood, seven counties in California would be without a clinic that provides affordable access to comprehensive contraception care. Speaking on San Antonio's KTSA Radio, Cruz said the GOP's Senate majority "is so narrow, I don't know if we can get it done or not".