Last minute Sunday night Graham Cassidy revisions included.. a pretty sweet deal for the state of Louisiana, home of one of the bill’s sponsors Sen. Bill Cassidy.

“Republican senators released a new version of their health care proposal Sunday night aimed at winning support from a handful of still undecided senators. The legislation includes language that gives states that expanded Medicaid after December 2015, access to an additional $750 million a year between 2023 and 2026.
Experts at both the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Brookings Institution confirmed CNN’s understanding that the provision would only make two states eligible for the millions in funding: Montana and Louisiana. That money, however, wouldn’t just be divided evenly — Louisiana would get tens of millions more because it’s population is larger, according to one expert.” (A)

“For now, people who get their insurance through Medicaid can rest easy…. Those with employer insurance can also coast along with the status quo….Most Obamacare customers won’t feel the sting of higher premiums, because government subsidies limit their exposure to a percentage of their income. But there are still millions of people who buy their own insurance and earn too much to qualify for subsidies. The rocky market will be worse for them, and possibly unaffordable.
Senators in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee had been negotiating over a possible bipartisan deal to help stabilize the markets. The expected package would have guaranteed the disputed payments to insurers and provided states with some policy flexibility in future years.
But that effort was shelved by congressional leadership as part of the failed push to pass the Graham-Cassidy health care overhaul. Now, with contract signings imminent, it is probably too late for lawmakers to improve conditions much for next year.” (B)

“Already, state insurance regulators are approving big rate increases based on the assumption that Trump will discontinue CSR payments and Congress will not appropriate them….
It’s not just the CSR’s raising rates. Industry analysts say companies are also pricing in doubts about whether the White House will enforce the Obamacare individual mandate, which requires people to maintain coverage.” (C)

“The push to repeal Obamacare took on new life after a party lunch meeting two weeks ago at the Senate GOP’s campaign headquarters. There, they were presented with a dour assessment of the party’s finances as donors rebelled against a party that had abandoned its promise.
“Failure of health care has made the problem we had worse. It’s not just [contested] primaries but donors. Let me tell you, online giving went down 40 percent after we failed on health care. Pledges to the Republican Party went down 60 percent. And I understand that,” said Graham, who cheekily called such feedback “employer assessments.”” (D)

“ “We haven’t given up on changing the American health care system,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said after a lunchtime meeting of Republican senators. “We are not going to be able to do that this week, but it still lies ahead of us, and we haven’t given up on that.”
Democrats, who have spent all year fighting to protect the Affordable Care Act, a law that is a pillar of President Barack Obama’s legacy, responded by calling for the resumption of bipartisan negotiations to stabilize health insurance markets. Republican leaders had squelched those talks as the latest repeal plan, written by Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, gained steam…
Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee and the chairman of the Senate health committee, and Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the senior Democrat on the panel, have been working on legislation to stabilize insurance markets and hold down premiums in the next couple of years. Both said on Tuesday that they hoped to resume those efforts.” (E)

“President Donald Trump tweeted his assurance Wednesday that Republicans will have enough votes to repeal Obamacare, one day after the GOP canceled its vote on the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill…
“We will have the votes for Healthcare but not for the reconciliation deadline of Friday, after which we need 60,” Trump said. “Get rid of Filibuster Rule!” (F)

(A) Newest Graham-Cassidy bill has a pretty sweet deal — for Cassidy, by Lauren Fox, http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/politics/graham-cassidy-deal-for-sponsor/index.html
(B) How Failure of the Obamacare Repeal Affects Consumers, by Margot Sanger-Katz, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/upshot/how-the-failure-of-obamacare-repeal-affects-consumers.html?mcubz=0
(C) Obamacare Repeal Failed, but the Damage Is Already Done, by BENJY SARLIN, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/obamacare-repeal-failed-some-damage-already-done-n804956
(D) Inside the life and death of Graham-Cassidy, by JENNIFER HABERKORN, BURGESS EVERETT and SEUNG MIN KIM, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/27/obamacare-repeal-graham-cassidy-243178
(E) Senate Republicans Say They Will Not Vote on Health Bill, by THOMAS KAPLAN and ROBERT PEAR, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/us/politics/mcconnell-obamacare-repeal-graham-cassidy-trump.html?mcubz=0
(F) Trump tweets ‘we have the HCare Vote, but not for Friday!’ after the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill collapses by Jonathan Ernst, http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tweets-on-healthcare-bill-graham-cassidy-failure-filibuster-2017-9