In a letter
(86 KB PDF) sent this morning to Senate leaders, ACE and 19 other higher education
associations raised serious concerns about the health care legislation
to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (ACA) proposed by
several Republican senators, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
The letter notes that the concerns largely mirror those expressed by ACE
and other higher education associations regarding earlier legislation
to repeal and replace the ACA, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of
2017.
The associations conclude that, “it is essential that any health care
legislation not leave colleges and universities and many students and
their families worse off. Without changes, the bill’s impact on colleges
and universities, teaching hospitals and those we serve will be
severely negative.”
The letter also drills down into the draft bill’s impact on higher
education. Of particular concern are the proposed cuts and other changes
to Medicaid, which will have a significant negative effect on state
budgets and, by extension, on state funding for public higher education.
“In particular, states would have to choose between providing health
care for their most vulnerable residents and investing in higher
education,” the letter states. “This would exacerbate the long-term
decline in state support for higher education and inevitably lead to
increased tuition and potentially cuts to state student financial aid
programs, raising the cost of attending college for students and their
families.”
Academic medicine and teaching hospitals, which serve as critical
safety net providers and “are central to the future of health care in
our country,” also stand to lose heavily under the bill.
On the potential impact on students, the associations write that many
may lose access to health coverage—including mental health care—as a
consequence of the bill’s Medicaid cutbacks and changes to individual
market coverage requirements, while others relying on individual market
coverage may see an increase in their out-of-pocket expenses.
As of this morning, several Republican senators had either declared
their opposition to the bill or expressed serious misgivings, and all
Democrats were opposed. Senate GOP leaders had hoped to bring the bill
to a vote later this week, but its path forward in the Senate remained unclear.
The House passed the latest of its many bills to repeal and replace the ACA on May 4.