HERE WE GO AGAIN: Trump budget pushing Graham-Cassidy ACA Repeal Bill

Hot Off the Presses, via Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner...

President Trump’s budget plan released Monday endorsed an Obamacare repeal and replace bill that gives funding to states and makes cuts to Medicaid.

...Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., are behind the legislation that takes Obamacare’s funding for the Medicaid expansion and tax subsidies for lower premiums and gives it to states through block grants. The senators introduced the bill in September along with Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Dean Heller, R-Nev.

The bill would end the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare but supporters say states can implement it individually if they want. However, the bill makes cuts to Medicaid overall by capping federal funding per beneficiary.

The bill failed to get enough support in Congress in September, as some senators from expansion states worried about Medicaid cuts and protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

(sigh) One More Time, folks...

Here's what the ACA's 3-Legged Stool should have looked like...

Here's what it actually looks like today, after Donald Trump cut off CSR reimbursement payments, the carriers/state regulators responded by Silver Loading CSR costs, and the Republicans in Congress repealed the Individual Mandate altogether without replacing it with anything whatsoever...

...and this, to the best of my knowledge, is what it would look like if the Graham-Cassidy bill from last fall were to pass into law:

Oh, there is one bright spot for healthcare in the budget...sort of:

The budget proposed adding $5 billion over five years for fighting the opioid epidemic. But Health and Human Services overall gets $17.9 billion, a 21 percent decrease compared to 2017 enacted funding levels.

Note that $5 billion over five years would be about $1 billion per year...a small fraction of what would be needed to properly deal with the issue, according to multiple healthcare policy experts, especially when you're simultaneously gutting other healthcare programs as well.