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Obamacare repeal bill injurious to people of New Jersey: Christie

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (Photo by AFP) 

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has said that he is against the latest US Senate plan aimed at repealing Obamacare, former Democratic President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law.

 “I oppose Graham-Cassidy because it is too injurious to the people of New Jersey,” Christie, an enthusiastic supporter of President Donald Trump, said on Wednesday while standing outside an addiction treatment center in Somerset County, New Jersey.

 “I’m certainly not going to support a bill that takes nearly $4 billion from people in the state,” he added.

The plan is described as the Graham-Cassidy bill after the two Republican senators — Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — who sponsored it.

The Republican-drafted healthcare proposal would end Medicaid grants to states and it would have a disproportionate financial impact on states that chose to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.

According to an estimate from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Christie’s state could lose about $3.9 billion in federal Medicaid funds by 2026.

Christie said that he remains “philosophically” opposed to Obamacare but “took advantage” of Medicaid expansion for the benefit of his state residents.

Obama slams GOP’s Obamacare repeal effort

Former US President Barack Obama answers questions at the Gates Foundation Inaugural Goalkeepers event on September 20, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by AFP) 

Meanwhile, Obama on Wednesday condemned repeated Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare.

He said the Graham-Cassidy bill would increase costs, reduce health coverage and revoke protections for vulnerable Americans. 

“When I see people trying to undo that hard-won progress for the 50th or 60th time … it is aggravating,” he said at an event in New York. 

Obama called on supporters to push back against the new legislation.

“It’s certainly frustrating to have to mobilize every couple of months to keep our leaders from inflicting real human suffering on our constituents,” he said. “But typically, that’s how progress is won and how progress is maintained.”

The Republican Party had failed to unite behind the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) despite having a 52-48 majority over Democrats in the 100-member Senate.

In July, the US Senate rejected the Republican-drafted healthcare legislation, dubbed the “skinny repeal” bill, dealing a major blow to GOP leadership and Trump, who had campaigned relentlessly on a pledge to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act approved under his predecessor in 2010.

Trump had promised during his election campaign, and later as president to introduce a new health system that benefits more Americans at a lower cost.

In the most contentious congressional vote of Trump's presidency in May, lawmakers voted 217 to 213 to pass the Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill.

Healthcare experts from across the political spectrum have said that Trump’s bill is unworkable, suffers from fatal flaws and could lead to Americans dropping out of the healthcare market.

Experts agree that the bill fails to reach the objectives laid forth by Trump, which includes affordable coverage for everyone, lower deductibles, healthcare costs and better care.


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