Colleen Flanagan of Boston and other activists in wheelchairs opposed to the GOP's Graham-Cassidy health care repeal bill are removed by U.S. Capitol Police after disrupting a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the last-ditch GOP push to overhaul the nation's health care system Monday. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Protesters dragged out of Senate hearing on Obamacare repeal 
 
 A Senate hearing on the GOP’s Obamacare repeal bill was quickly disrupted by protests Monday afternoon, as Capitol Police dragged out a group of disability rights activists who interrupted the session. 
 
 The protest forced Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch to temporarily suspend the hearing for roughly 15 minutes as the protesters chanted, “No cuts to Medicaid, save our liberty.” 
 
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 “If you want a hearing, you better shut up,” Hatch said, as the chants drowned out his attempts to open the hearing — the first and only session scheduled on a repeal plan that’s still a few Republican votes short of passage. 
 
 Other Republican senators on the panel, including bill co-author Sen. Bill Cassidy, sat stoically or left the room until police removed the nearly 20 protesters, most of whom were disabled and in wheelchairs. 
 
 “Just let the police take care of it,” Sen. Chuck Grassley said to Hatch as the chants erupted. 
 
 Hatch later said that he understands why the activists are passionate, but he threatened to cut the hearing short if protests and disruptions continue. 
 
 “If the hearing is going to devolve into a sideshow … there’s no reason for us to be here,” he said. “If we can’t have that, we should all be spending our time on something more productive.” 
 
 The disruption came amid a full day of planned protests against the repeal bill from patient advocacy and women’s health groups and progressive activists. Hundreds waited outside the hearing room for hours, booing Republican senators as they walked in and later chanting against the repeal bill throughout the hearing. 
 
 Those groups — along with Democrats and nearly the entire health care industry — have criticized the so-called Graham-Cassidy bill as unworkable and irresponsible, pointing to the mass coverage losses likely resulting from cutting hundreds of billions of dollars in federal health care funding. 
 
 “The process that led to this is an abomination,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the committee. “We’ve just seen, colleagues, some of the frustration.” 
 
 Senate Republicans are hoping to speed their repeal bill through the chamber this week, beating a budgetary deadline for passing the legislation by a simple majority. 
 
 Brianna Ehley contributed to this report. ||||| Looking for news you can trust? 
 
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 At a hearing on the Graham-Cassidy health care bill, Capitol Police removed a number of people in wheelchairs who were protesting proposed cuts to Medicaid funding. “No cuts to Medicaid, save our liberty,” the protesters chanted. The protests, arranged by disability-rights group ADAPT, began as soon as Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) gaveled in the hearing. 
 
 After returning the hearing to order, Hatch told protesters: “If you can’t be in order, then get the heck out of here.” Hatch called the demonstrations “good fodder for Twitter,” before adding that the committee is usually above such “shenanigans.” 
 
 The latest GOP bill to repeal Obamacare would impose a per capita cap on how much money the federal government offers states for Medicaid, which would decrease spending on the program by hundred of billions of dollars. According to the left-leaning Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, this part of the bill would cut Medicaid spending by $175 billion between 2020 and 2026. 
 
 Below is a live stream of the hearing. 
 
 Below are videos of protestors being removed. 
 
 Hearing gavels in. Protestors start immediately. pic.twitter.com/EudbcZd87P — Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) September 25, 2017 
 
 This is Colleen of ADAPT. I have no idea what this country is supposed to be pic.twitter.com/de86rRuLiM — Jeff Stein (@JStein_Vox) September 25, 2017 ||||| Graham-Cassidy Health Care Hearing Starts With Eruption Of Protests 
 
 Updated at 6:20 p.m. ET 
 
 Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana defended their namesake health care bill Monday even as the measure ran into potentially fatal opposition from a third Senate colleague. 
 
 Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, came out against the bill, joining fellow Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky and John McCain of Arizona. That leaves the GOP majority at least one vote short of the 50 votes needed to pass the bill over unified Democratic opposition. 
 
 Collins' announcement came after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released an analysis saying the bill would leave millions more Americans without comprehensive insurance. The CBO did not have time to provide a precise estimate. CBO forecasts of a spike in the number of uninsured people were a factor in the defeat of earlier Obamacare repeal efforts. 
 
 Separately, researchers at the Brookings Institution predicted the Graham-Cassidy bill would leave 32 million more Americans without health insurance by 2027. 
 
 The research firm S&P; Global also predicted the bill would leave more people uninsured, cost 580,000 jobs over the next decade, and be a drag on U.S. economic growth. 
 
 Monday's hearing was immediately interrupted by protesters chanting, "No cuts to Medicaid. Save our liberty." 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, suspended the hearing for about 15 minutes while the demonstrators — some in wheelchairs — were dragged from the room. 
 
 "If the hearing is going to devolve into a sideshow or a forum for simply putting partisan points on the board, there's absolutely no reason for us to be here," Hatch said. 
 
 The bill's authors made changes to the legislation in hopes of winning over holdouts, but that effort appeared to be in vain. 
 
 Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the committee, complained that Republicans are trying to push through an inadequate bill to beat a deadline Saturday and avoid a Democratic filibuster. 
 
 "Nobody has got to buy a lemon just because it's the last car on the lot," Wyden said. 
 
 The bill would eliminate federally financed subsidies for people buying insurance on the individual market as well as the Medicaid expansion. Some of that federal money would be repackaged as block grants for the states. 
 
 "My goal is to get the money and power out of Washington, closer to where people live, so they'll have a voice about the most important thing in their life," Graham said. 
 
 The bill would also make major changes to traditional Medicaid, capping the federal government's contribution. Over time, federal expenditures on Medicaid could grow more slowly than health care costs, shifting responsibility for those bills to state governments or patients themselves. 
 
 Graham argued that unless Congress is able to put the brakes on health care spending, it will consume an ever growing portion of the federal budget. 
 
 The acting secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services said she welcomes flexibility, but not if it comes with a smaller budget. 
 
 "Cutting billions of dollars from Medicaid and giving states reduced funding in the form of block grants — funding that goes away after seven years — is not the kind of flexibility that we're looking for," said Teresa Miller. 
 
 She added such cuts would force governors to make agonizing choices. 
 
 "Who should receive health care?" Miller asked. "A child born with a disability? A young adult struggling with an opioid addiction? A mom fighting breast cancer? A senior who's worked hard all his life and needs access to quality health care to age with dignity?" 
 
 The bill would eliminate the requirement that most Americans obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. It would also allow states to ease restrictions on the insurance market, which critics say would lead to higher prices for people with pre-existing medical conditions. 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 "This bill is an all-out assault on vital consumer protections," Wyden said. "It's going to make the health care that many people need unaffordable." 
 
 He pointed to the wide variety of industry and consumer groups that have come out against the Graham-Cassidy bill, including the American Medical Association, America's Health Insurance Plans and AARP. 
 
 "You managed to bring together people and organizations in the health care field who rarely agree," Wyden told Cassidy. "I guess congratulations are in order because they all think what you're talking about is a disaster." 
 
 More than 200 protesters had lined up outside the hearing room hours before it started — many arrived as early as 6 a.m. 
 
 "If Medicaid is cut so dramatically, it will force people into institutions," said Bruce Darling, an organizer from New York with the disability rights group ADAPT, ahead of the hearing. "For people with disabilities, Medicaid is our life and our liberty," he added. 
 
 NPR producer Barbara Sprunt contributed to this report.
– Protesters, including some in wheelchairs, were removed from a Senate hearing on the latest GOP bill to repeal ObamaCare Monday afternoon, Mother Jones reports. Politico says they were "dragged out" by Capitol Police. Demonstrators, who were organized by the disability rights group ADAPT and most of whom were in wheelchairs or had disabilities, were protesting against the Graham-Cassidy health care bill's proposed cuts to Medicaid; the group of almost 20 forced Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch to suspend the hearing for about 15 minutes and order the protesters to "shut up." Hatch later said that he understands why the protesters feel so strongly about the issue, but "if the hearing is going to devolve into a sideshow … there’s no reason for us to be here." A full day of protests was planned against the repeal bill Monday, including protests from women's health groups, patient advocacy groups, and other progressive groups. Hundreds of demonstrators waited outside the hearing room, booing Republican senators as they entered for the first and only scheduled session on the bill. NPR reports that Senate Republicans must act on the bill by Saturday due to special rules regarding filibusters, but the bill is still in danger of falling short of the votes it needs to pass.