Besides being from two different parties, you want to know what the real difference between Pennsylvania’s two U.S. Senators? One of them is a horrible liar:
Steve Kelly, a spokesman for Sen. Pat Toomey, said the Pennsylvania Republican has vowed “that no one will lose their federal Medicaid eligibility, and no one currently covered by Obamacare will have the rug pulled out from under them” under the plan being discussed in the Senate. Toomey is one of a handful of senators working behind closed doors on the Senate version, which other senators say they have not seen, Kelly said.
Senate Republicans are working on their own version of a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act after House Republicans in May approved a measure that would phase out the expansion of Medicaid to people making slightly too much to qualify for the traditional program. The House bill would also cap federal spending on traditional Medicaid, which Democrats and health care advocates warn will push very low-income people off the program.
Kelly also said Toomey has supported a number other federal programs that fund addiction treatment.
The other one tells the truth:
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said the Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act must be stopped because the cuts it will make to Medicaid will amplify the heroin epidemic — since so many rely on the program for addiction treatment.
“This is a critical time for the opioid epidemic and a critically important time for Medicaid because of the connection between the two,” he said. “In the midst of this terrible crisis, Republicans want to roll back Medicaid expansion.”
Casey held a press conference with U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and several police chiefs Tuesday to talk about the severity of the opioid epidemic and its tie to Medicaid and its expansion.
Senate Republicans have been drafting their health care plan behind closed doors; it is expected to be released on Thursday and voted on next week.
In a report he issued entitled, “The Republican Health Care Plan: Retreating from the Fight Against the Opioid Epidemic,” Casey noted that 33,000 of the 52,000 people who died in 2015 from a drug overdose were linked to opioids. In Pennsylvania, that number was 1,300 out of 3,200 overdose deaths in the same year.
“So now, across the country, more people die from drug overdoses than car crashes,” Casey said.
And, many receive care through public sources, including the 175,000 Pennsylvanians receiving substance abuse disorder services through the expansion, according to the Casey report.
It also stated that 14 million people stand to lose medical coverage next year through the Republicans’ American Health Care Act and that up to $5.5 billion could be potentially cut for mental health and substance use disorder coverage provisions in changes made to the ACA.
It’s hard to trust or take Toomey seriously because he’s the one who pushed through the steep Medicaid cuts in the first place:
As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health Care, Toomey spearheaded the bill’s drafting process and the push for deep Medicaid cuts, which Democrats and some Republicans fear will force states to either eliminate coverage for many needy patients or assume a much more sizable chunk of the cost.
Toomey defended the bill in an interview with Bloomberg today, calling the Medicaid cuts “necessary to make [Medicaid] a sustainable program.” He said the bill had “gotten lots of outside input” during the draft process—but it was drafted without a single public hearing.
Here’s how the bill would work: Under current law, Medicaid is an open-ended entitlement program, meaning the government is required to match state expenditures for the costs of covered services to those deemed eligible (primarily low-income and disabled people). The Senate legislation would replace that program with a system of capped federal payments that would drastically reduce federal spending over time.
That means states would be forced to decide whether to scale back on coverage or raise a significant amount of funding, likely through taxes or budget cuts, to make up the difference.
And Governor Tom Wolf (D. PA) rightfully called out Toomey:
Wolf sent Toomey a letter expressing concern for the senator’s recent call for a Medicaid “overhaul,” which Wolf believes would be “extremely devastating” to the state’s residents.
“For hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians, Medicaid is not a handout – it is a lifeline,” the letter reads. “It helps families care for an aging parent or a child with a disability. It is helping our state battle the opioid epidemic by diverting people from punitive criminal justice settings and into the treatment they desperately need. It allows kids with intellectual and physical disabilities to go to school and learn.”
Toomey sits on the committee of Senate Republicans drafting their version of legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, which could reportedly include more cuts to Medicaid than the health-care overhaul passed by the House last month.
The cuts – and the emerging bill – are opposed by Democrats and some moderate Republicans concerned that the belt-tightening would hurt state budgets and eliminate crucial coverage for many residents – particularly those who rely on treatment for opioid addiction.
“Unfortunately, press reports indicate you have advocated for Medicaid cuts to go even further than the House,” Wolf’s letter to Toomey reads. “Even worse, statements from your office have seemingly sought to confuse your constituents about this issue. Saying that these changes won’t make anyone ineligible for Medicaid is disingenuous and does not reflect the budgetary reality of covering these populations should you choose to cut federal funding for your state, which you know faces legacy financial challenges.”
Of course Toomey doesn’t believe voters would actually read the bill but Casey took to Twitter and rightfully highlighted what Toomey wrote:
With red-circled passages from the proposed replacement for the Affordable Care Act released this morning, Mr. Casey launched a barrage of tweets. He pointed to phrases and sections of the provisions of the legislation, and said what he considers each means in reality.
He wrote about a provision discussing a “Medicaid Flexibility Program.”
“This means insurance companies are no longer required to cover things like maternity care and emergency services. This will effect everyone,” he said.
Of another passage, he explained:
Click here to read more of Casey’s Tweets.
People in Pennsylvania aren’t falling for Toomey’s bull shit and they are making sure their presence won’t be ignored:
With Toomey at the center of these negotiations, people across Pennsylvania are planning to hold 24-hour vigils outside the senator’s offices this week. Those who plan to participate say they’re concerned about how repealing the ACA and cutting federal Medicaid spending will affect vulnerable populations like seniors and kids.
The Pittsburgh vigil is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. today with a rally outside Toomey’s Downtown office. Other vigils, supported and coordinated by the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, are scheduled to take place in Allentown, Erie, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre.
Antoinette Kraus, director of the Philly-based healthcare coalition, told The Incline the vigils are an “organic movement” to support people who are worried about losing their coverage. Kraus said her group has been hearing from a lot of those people.
“They said, ‘How do we get our stories told? We feel like it’s getting lost in the noise.'”
Jonathan Mayo plans to participate in the Pittsburgh vigil with the local Bend the Arc chapter, which is part of the Jewish Action network. “For us, it was a no-brainer to participate,” Mayo, a steering committee member, said of the group.
And the vigil brought out a big name to call out Toomey:
The vigil, one of many events scheduled to an throughout the city during a 24-hour period as the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, included speaker Rev. Dr. William Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP and leader of the Moral Mondays civil rights protest movement.
Barber was joined by other clergy members, local organizations, residents, POWER, and the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, who were all looking to speak out against Senator Toomey on the harm the Senate’s proposal will cause seniors, children, people with disabilities, and individuals with pre-existing conditions.
“This should not be a discussion about keeping the Affordable Care Act,” Barber said. “For many of us the Affordable Care Act was a step, not the end of a journey. We should be talking about Universal Healthcare. We should be building on what we already have in place, not starting over. Once you take a step back, it’s going to be harder for reaching universal healthcare.
“The problem is we have too much compromise on both sides of the law,” he added. “But the difference now is that we have a president who is in an all-out battle to undermine healthcare. Greed is written all over this. But when it comes down to it, this decision is really about life and death. We need to have our voices heard. We need to speak out and up. We need to tell our stories and hold our legislative and government officials accountable.”
Below are Toomey’s offices and contact information. Keep raising Hell about this:
Washington, D.C.
248 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4254
Fax: (202) 228-0284
Pittsburgh
310 Grant Street
Suite 1440
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: (412) 803-3501
Fax: (412) 803-3504
Johnstown
Richland Square III, Suite 302
1397 Eisenhower Blvd
Johnstown, PA 15904
Phone: (814) 266-5970
Fax: (814) 266-5973
Erie
United States Federal Building
17 South Park Row
Suite B-120
Erie, PA 16501
Phone: (814) 453-3010
Fax: (814) 455-9925
Wilkes-Barre
7 North Wilkes-Barre Boulevard
Suite 406
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702
Phone: (570) 820-4088
Fax: (570) 820-6442
Harrisburg
United States Federal Building
228 Walnut St.
Suite 1104
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: (717) 782-3951
Fax: (717) 782-4920
Allentown/Lehigh Valley
1150 S. Cedar Crest Blvd Suite 101
Allentown, PA 18103
Phone: (610) 434-1444
Toll-free phone (for callers in PA): 1-855-552-1831
Fax: (610) 434-1844
Philadelphia
US Custom House
200 Chestnut Street
Suite 600
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Phone: (215) 241-1090
Fax: (215) 241-1095
And let’s be sure to let Senator Casey and Governor Wolf know we have their backs next year. Click below to donate and get involved with Casey and Wolf’s re-election bids:
Bob Casey
Tom Wolf