Health Policy Specialists Confirm Graham-Cassidy Health Care Proposal Would Have a Devastating Impact on Maine

Click HERE to read Avalere’s full analysis

Washington, D.C. - Avalere, a respected firm that specializes in health care policy, recently released data showing that Maine would lose billions of dollars in federal funding if the Graham-Cassidy health care bill were to become law. U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced yesterday that she opposed the Graham-Cassidy proposal due to the substantial harm it would cause Mainers.

Avalere’s analysis determined that Maine would lose:

• $1 billion between 2020 and 2026,
• $2 billion by 2027, when the “funding cliff is reached under the revised formula, and
• $17 billion by 2037.

The Maine Hospital Association has also cited analysis that shows Maine could lose up to $1 billion over the next decade. This would be a serious loss to Maine where the hospitals, with the exception of the largest hospital in Portland, lost $50 million dollars in the aggregate last year. Some of our hospitals could not survive cuts of this magnitude, thus depriving local residents of easily accessible health care.

“Maine loses money under whichever version of the Graham-Cassidy bill we consider because the bills use what could be described as a ‘give with one hand, take with the other’ distribution model,” said U.S. Senator Susan Collins. “Huge Medicaid cuts down the road more than offset any short-term influx of money. But even more important, if Senators can adjust a funding formula over a weekend to help a single state, they could just as easily adjust that formula in the future to hurt that state. This is simply not the way that we should be approaching an important and complex issue that must be handled thoughtfully and fairly for all Americans.”

Avalere’s full analysis can be found HERE.