--- title: Graham-Cassidy Health Care Proposal Hurts People of Color description: For communities of color, Graham-Cassidy would return us to the days of discriminatory and exclusionary health coverage. canonical: https://time.com/4952121/graham-cassidy-people-of-color/ author: Chris Lu article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-22T14:02:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-30T11:03:02.852Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How the Graham-Cassidy Proposal Would Hurt Communities of Color og:description: Chris Lu and Kathy Ko Chin write: "This terrifies us" og:url: https://time.com/4952121/graham-cassidy-people-of-color/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4827883cca30db22/6988dedf656a3f8234bd1cbc/graham-cassidy-people-of-color.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Republican Press Conference after Weekly Party Luncheon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How the Graham-Cassidy Proposal Would Hurt Communities of Color twitter:description: Chris Lu and Kathy Ko Chin write: "This terrifies us" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4827883cca30db22/6988dedf656a3f8234bd1cbc/graham-cassidy-people-of-color.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How the Graham-Cassidy Proposal Would Hurt Communities of Color > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=2725506d-aabe-440a-b4c2-be1c8f926eac&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Chris Lu](https://time.com/author/chris-lu/) and [Kathy Ko Chin](https://time.com/author/kathy-ko-chin/) Sep 22, 2017 2:02 PM UTC  United States Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican of South Carolina) speaks to reporters outside the US Senate Chamber following the Republican weekly luncheon caucus in the US Capitol in Washington, DC on Sept.19, 2017. United States Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican of South Carolina) speaks to reporters outside the US Senate Chamber following the Republican weekly luncheon caucus in the US Capitol in Washington, DC on Sept.19, 2017. Ron Sachs—AP Images by [Chris Lu](https://time.com/author/chris-lu/) and [Kathy Ko Chin](https://time.com/author/kathy-ko-chin/) Sep 22, 2017 2:02 PM UTC The [repeated efforts](http://time.com/4951185/republicans-launch-effort-repeal-obamacare/) by Congress to [repeal the Affordable Care Act](http://time.com/4946600/obamacare-repeal-graham-cassidy/) (ACA) can feel endless — legislators keep reviving our deepest fears about how to keep our loved ones and ourselves healthy. Even though [repeal was defeated in the Senate](http://time.com/4877796/health-care-senate-john-mccain-susan-collins-lisa-murkowski/) just a few months ago, there is a new bill that is as bad as, if not worse than, the previous version. Key Senators are ramming the [legislation](http://time.com/4951305/jimmy-kimmel-test-graham-cassidy-healthcare-bill/) — known as [Graham-Cassidy](http://time.com/4944913/jeb-bush-the-graham-cassidy-proposal-is-better-than-kasich-hickenlooper/) — through the chamber at warp speed. As two people who worked to make [Obamacare](http://time.com/4950410/barack-obama-speech-bill-melinda-gates-goalkeepers/) a reality, we don’t like what we see. There will be devastating consequences for tens of millions of Americans — particularly those who are the most vulnerable. For communities of color, including Asian Americans as well as Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPIs) Graham-Cassidy would return us to the days of discriminatory and exclusionary health coverage. Under the [ACA](http://time.com/4949573/graham-cassidy-obamacare-repeal-womens-health/), 2 million Asian Americans and NHPIs [gained](http://www.apiahf.org/sites/default/files/2017.06.12%5FRacial%20Equity%20Leaders%20Letter%20to%20Senate%20Opposing%20ACA%20Repeal.pdf) health coverage or are eligible for coverage. In our community, uninsurance decreased by 57% for Asian Americans and by 47% for NHPIs. Yet, if Graham-Cassidy becomes law, up to 32 million Americans could lose health coverage. States would be able to eliminate protections for people with pre-existing conditions, a key protection that deeply impacts the Asian American and NHPI community, which suffers [disproportionately](http://aahiinfo.org/about-asian-americans/asian-american-health-concerns/) from chronic hepatitis B, liver and stomach cancer, diabetes and tuberculosis. Half of Asian Americans and NHPIs are [estimated](https://aadi.joslin.org/en/diabetes-mellitus-in-asian-americans) to have diabetes or pre-diabetes – conditions that could lead to premium [increases](https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/news/2017/09/18/439091/graham-cassidy-aca-repeal-bill-cause-huge-premium-increases-people-pre-existing-conditions/) of $5,600 under Graham-Cassidy. The premium [increase](https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/news/2017/09/18/439091/graham-cassidy-aca-repeal-bill-cause-huge-premium-increases-people-pre-existing-conditions/) for a pre-existing condition of cancer would exceed the annual income of most Asian American families. The latest Senate proposal also would end the financial assistance that has made health care affordable to most Americans. These tax credits help people buy health insurance for the first time so they can see a doctor, get a check-up and purchase needed medication. More than eight in 10 previously uninsured Asian Americans and NHPIs qualify for financial assistance under the ACA. Ending financial assistance will once again put health coverage out of reach for too many. Worse still, the repeal bill would end Medicaid as we know it by capping federal funding and diminishing coverage for the most vulnerable populations. Over time, states will have to make cuts in services, which, again, would severely impact communities of color. One in six Asian Americans and one in three Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders rely on Medicaid as their only form of health coverage. For other racial groups, the effects of Graham-Cassidy’s Medicaid cuts would be equally devastating. Currently, Medicaid [covers](ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health%5FStatistics/NCHS/NHIS/SHS/2015%5FSHS%5FTable%5FP-11.pdf) 33% of African Americans and 31% of Hispanics. As health advocates, this terrifies us. But it really terrifies people like Mee Pwa, a mom of four supporting not just her family but also her own parents. [Medicaid](http://time.com/4857954/medicaid-medicare-fraud-412-charged-justice-department/) pays for her daughter’s monthly hospital visits to check on her kidneys and for her child’s medical supplies and care. In short, Medicaid keeps her child alive. Graham-Cassidy and its supporters have no answer for how Mee Pwa will be able to afford care for her child. Her family income is barely over $1,200 a month. This latest effort to repeal Obamacare, like all of the ones before it, causes parents like Mee Pwa to fear for their children’s lives. Congress needs to move from a strategy of stripping coverage from millions to one that will actually improve our health care system. We owe it to our families, friends and communities to do everything possible to protect their right to a healthy future. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4952121/graham-cassidy-people-of-color/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4952121/graham-cassidy-people-of-color/"},"headline":"How the Graham-Cassidy Proposal Would Hurt Communities of Color","datePublished":"2017-09-22T14:02:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-30T11:03:02.852Z","description":"Chris Lu and Kathy Ko Chin write: 'This terrifies us'","url":"https://time.com/4952121/graham-cassidy-people-of-color/","keywords":["Health Care"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4827883cca30db22/6988dedf656a3f8234bd1cbc/graham-cassidy-people-of-color.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chris Lu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/chris-lu/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Kathy Ko Chin","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kathy-ko-chin/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4827883cca30db22/6988dedf656a3f8234bd1cbc/graham-cassidy-people-of-color.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican Press Conference after Weekly Party Luncheon","caption":"Republican Press Conference after Weekly Party Luncheon","creditText":"Ron Sachs—AP Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health-care/","name":"Health Care"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4952121/graham-cassidy-people-of-color/","name":"How the Graham-Cassidy Proposal Would Hurt Communities of Color"}}]}] ```