Give McCain One Last Shot At Him: Sunday’s Comic

Follow The Money: Big Hospitals Support McCain’s Graham-Cassidy Rejection

Whenever Senator John McCain says he is acting on principle, Arizonans know to follow the money. Almost immediately after McCain announced in a tweet that he was acting on “principle” in rejecting the Graham-Cassidy bill that would reform the Affordable Care Act, big money groups offered backup.

Related article:

HHS: Arizona Health Insurance Premiums Almost Tripled Since 2013

McCain Kills Skinny Repeal Healthcare Bill

Big Payoffs For Medicaid Expansionists

Goldwater Institute Case Challenging Funding For Medicaid Expansion To Be Heard

Big Payoffs For Medicaid Expansionists

Before the ink was dry on advertising contracts, ads paid for by the Coalition to Protect American’s Healthcare were played on stations in Arizona in support of McCain’s position.

In 2013, Arizona State legislators benefited from supporting Medicaid expansion, while conservative opponents were targeted by the healthcare organizations. Hospitals fought hard and spent big money in support of expansion.

According to Politico under Obamacare, hospitals have enjoyed record profits, and not necessarily by providing benefits to the public:

Obamacare may have been a mixed blessing for those seeking coverage through the state exchanges, some of which have seen double-digit annual premium hikes, but it’s been a clear boon for the nation’s hospitals.

Multiple studies have linked the ACA’s coverage expansion to improved financial performance, with one analysis finding that hospitals’ profit margins went up by 25 percent in states that expanded Medicaid in 2014. Overall, the industry boasted an 8.3 percent profit margin that year, according to the most recent figures published by the American Hospital Association. That’s the highest performance on record — more than triple the industry’s 2.6 percent profit margin in 2008, amid the recession and before the Obama administration began pushing its health care reforms — and it’s only invited scrutiny from advocates and researchers who say that it’s a sign the system is broken.

To read more — Follow The Money: Big Hospitals Support McCain’s Graham-Cassidy Rejection — click here