Washington—This morning, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) unveiled a 140-page bill to fundamentally restructure Obamacare. The Heritage Foundation said a previous version of Graham-Cassidy incorporated a number of important provisions but ultimately "falls short of fully repealing Obamacare and replacing" the law, in part because "it doesn't repeal all of Obamacare's taxes" and "takes policy in the wrong direction by spending the money from the Obamacare taxes on a new welfare block-grant program to states." Heritage Action released the following statement from Chief Executive Officer Michael A. Needham:
"Heritage Action looks forward to reviewing the newly released text and appreciates the senators' efforts to keep the debate over Obamacare's future front and center. Based on what we know right now, Graham-Cassidy would make some improvements over the status quo but it would not actually deliver on the Republicans' seven-year campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.
"As we have said from the beginning, the key question is whether any proposal actually addresses Obamacare's regulatory architecture. Any reforms that maintain the law's onerous federal regulations will ensure networks continue to narrow, premiums continue to rise, and choice continues to decline."