RNC Chairwoman McDaniel to GOP: Seize the Moment and Pass Graham-Cassidy Healthcare Bill Now

Ronna Romney McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, is warning Republicans that they should act now to pass healthcare legislation that would pare down the federal government-run Affordable Care Act (ACA) and replace it with a federalist plan that returns power over healthcare policy to the states.

“We are seeing it right now in Congress with this push through the Senate for the Graham-Cassidy [bill] — the recognition that Americans are failing under Obamacare,” McDaniel said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

McDaniel said that by 2018, 45 percent of the counties in the country will have only one carrier or no carriers, a fact that reflects the urgent need to fix health care to end the struggles Americans face under the ACA, or Obamacare, with high premiums and little or no choice in health insurance plans.

The passage of Graham-Cassidy would also bring to fruition Republicans’ longtime campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.

“I hope we can push this through, block granting, the money to the states, letting the states craft a state-specific solution,” McDaniel said. “Let Republican governors deal with it, Democrat governors deal with it.

“It’s a bipartisan solution, but it’s also the best way to help the American people,” McDaniel said.

McDaniel said the healthcare bill could also make or break the election or re-election of Republicans in the 2018 mid-term elections, and if the House and Senate lose the majority, Democrats could restore Obamacare or even put in place a nationalized, single-payer healthcare system.

McDaniel also noted that the Democrats’ plan would “destroy our healthcare system.”

“Republicans have an opportunity right now,” McDaniel said. “Please seize it.”

The Graham-Cassidy bill, crafted by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Dean Heller (R-NV), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and former Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum — is working its way through the Senate and the House and must pass by September 30 to keep the reconciliation protocol in place for a vote on the bill.