Some States Will Be Big Winners Under ObamaCare Repeal Bill

There will be some big winners and plenty of losers under the latest effort at ObamaCare repeal, according to a Trump administration internal report. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services predicts that reallocation of funding in the bill from Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham will cause 31 states to lose federal health funding by 2026, Washington Post reports. They include Connecticut, where funding will be cut in half, and Louisiana, Cassidy's home state, where funding will drop 41%. But Graham's home state, South Carolina, will see funding grow 126%. The biggest winners will be Kansas, where funding will more than double, and Mississippi, where it will more than triple, the report says.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski from Alaska will be a crucial swing vote on the bill, which is expected to go to a vote next week. The federal report predicts her state's federal health funding will be down 38% by 2026, but a provision in the Graham-Cassidy plan could protect Alaska from major Medicaid funding cuts before that, Politico reports. The plan could also let fellow "low-density" states Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana opt out of the new financing system until 2026. A Senate aide tells the Independent Journal Review that in a draft version of the bill, Cassidy and Graham have added other provisions to try to win Murkowski's vote. (Cassidy and Jimmy Kimmel are feuding over what Kimmel calls "indefensible" legislation.)