Senate Republicans and President Trump have not given up on their last-ditch effort to significantly modify Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, which needs to pass this week to avoid a filibuster from Democrats. On Sunday night, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) released a new draft of their Graham-Cassidy bill, designed to win over holdouts in part by sending more money to Alaska, Maine, Arizona, and Kentucky, the home states of four key senators.
The new version of Graham-Cassidy also includes a special carveout for Alaska, a 25 percent increase in federal matching Medicaid funds. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has not said how she plans to vote, Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) are pretty hard no votes, and on Sunday's CNN State of the Nation, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said it would be "very difficult for me to envision a scenario where I would end up voting for this bill," citing its changes to Medicaid, weakened protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and the lack of a Congressional Budget Office analysis of its effects.
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