Tag: ACA

House Health Care Plan Is Not Enough to Keep High-Risk Pools Afloat

The following article by Emily Gee was posted on the American Progress website May 2, 2017:

Republican members of Congress watch as they and their fellow members vote for House Speaker on the first day of the new congressional session in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. January 3, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The latest amendment to the House Republicans’ bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, singles out people with pre-existing health conditions. The amendment to the American Health Care Act, or AHCA, would allow insurance companies in the small-group and individual markets to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions if they experience a gap in coverage. People with severe health conditions would face premiums so high that they would be priced out of the market.

Amid accusations of breaking promises on pre-existing conditions, the Trump administration has suggested that states could create high-risk pools under the AHCA, a plan that itself has come under harsh criticism from groups such as the American Medical Association and AARP. Recent history shows that high-risk pools are not a solution to stabilizing insurance markets, particularly when underfunded. Continue reading “House Health Care Plan Is Not Enough to Keep High-Risk Pools Afloat”

Public pans Republicans’ latest approach to replacing Affordable Care Act

The following article by Amy Goldstein and Scott Clement was posted on the Washington Post website April 26, 2017:

In strategy and substance, the American public disagrees with the course that President Trump and congressional Republicans are pursuing to replace the Affordable Care Act with conservative policies, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Large majorities oppose the ideas at the heart of the most recent GOP negotiations to forge a plan that could pass in the House. These would allow states to choose whether to keep the ACA’s insurance protection for people with preexisting medical problems and its guarantee of specific health benefits. Continue reading “Public pans Republicans’ latest approach to replacing Affordable Care Act”

GOP health plan is awful and Americans know it: Andy Slavitt

The following article by Andy Slavitt was posted on the USA Today website April 23, 2017:

Recess showed the public is engaged, knowledgeable and ready to hold lawmakers accountable.

Oscar Gronner

President Trump is in a big rush for House Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act by the time he reaches the 100-day mark on Saturday. This revives what for many Americans has been an agonizing process of watching their access to health care become a political football in the worst tradition of Washington dealmaking — secretive drafting, rushed votes, multiple closed-door sessions and minimal debate. Continue reading “GOP health plan is awful and Americans know it: Andy Slavitt”

Explaining the Health Payments That Trump Is Threatening to End

The following article by Reed Abelson and Margot Sanger-Katz was posted on the New York Times April 14, 2017:

Protesters at a “March for Health” in New York this month demanded equitable and affordable access to health care. Credit Kena Betancur/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Cost-sharing reductions seem like an arcane aspect of the Affordable Care Act, but they could now make or break the Obamacare insurance marketplaces. Even President Trump is talking about them, as a possible bargaining chip for a new health bill.

Mr. Trump this week repeatedly threatened to cut off the federal funding that makes the cost-sharing reductions work for insurers and patients. The idea, he told The Wall Street Journal, is that Democrats would be forced to negotiate with him over a replacement for the Affordable Care Act if they did not want the individual insurance market to collapse. The administration has been anything but clear about whether it wants that market to thrive or fail. Continue reading “Explaining the Health Payments That Trump Is Threatening to End”

Patients can’t go back to pre-ACA

I am twice a cancer survivor.  With my first diagnosis in 1999 and my second in 2001, I felt lost.  I couldn’t see what the future would hold.  My fears lessen as time passes and my treatment has been successful, but a new concern has emerged.  I now have a pre-existing condition that health insurance companies used to claim made people too risky to insure.

The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, prohibits such discrimination and implemented many other positive patient protections, that often get lost when we talk about its downsides. The ACA isn’t perfect. But cancer patients and survivors cannot afford to return to a time when insurance is unaffordable, coverage is inadequate and their treatment is at risk. Continue reading “Patients can’t go back to pre-ACA”

$2,183,552: Donald Trump’s Annual Tax Cut from ACA Repeal

The following article by Harold Stein was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 22, 2017:

The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a health care bill that would take away insurance from 24 million Americans in 2025—the same year that it would give a tax cut of $57,570 to the average household making more than $1 million per year. The personal benefit to President Donald Trump appears to be even larger: more than $2 million, based on recently leaked partial tax returns from 2005.

If the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, had been law in 2005, then President Trump could have paid $2,183,552 under two taxes on the wealthiest Americans that help pay for expanding health insurance coverage. This includes $589,080 in Additional Medicare Tax on President Trump’s wages and self-employment income, along with $1,594,473 in Net Investment Income Tax on his interest, dividends, and capital gains. Continue reading “$2,183,552: Donald Trump’s Annual Tax Cut from ACA Repeal”

The Impact of the House ACA Repeal Bill on Enrollees’ Costs

The following article by David Cutler, Topher Spiro and Emily Gee was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 16, 2017:

AP/Nam Y. Huh
Holly Brown, 28, who has a chronic lung condition, looks over medical records at her home in Round Lake, Illinois, on December 10, 2009.

After eight years, the congressional majority has finally released its health care legislation. Their bill, the American Health Care Act, can now be compared side-by-side with the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, based on how it affects enrollees’ pocketbooks. It does not measure up well; the House bill would increase both total consumer costs and the risk of a financially devastating event.

The congressional majority argues that by cutting back insurance standards, their bill would lower premiums. The Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, estimates that the bill would increase average premiums by 15 to 20 percent in 2018 and 2019, but that it would slightly lower average premiums by 10 percent by 2026.1 The bill would lower average premiums over the long run because older, costlier individuals who can no longer afford plans would drop out of the pool. Additionally, plans would cover a lower share of costs. Continue reading “The Impact of the House ACA Repeal Bill on Enrollees’ Costs”

Mulvaney’s suggestion that a person making one-fifth his pay couldn’t afford a doctor

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website March 15, 2017:

Alex Wong/Getty Images

“I was on Obamacare. I was on the exchanges as a member of the House, okay? I had the same plan that somebody who makes a lot less than I did at the time would have. I had a $12,000 or $15,000 a year annual deductible. I could afford it. How could the person who makes one-fifth of what I was making ever afford to go to the doctor?”
—White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” March 14, 2017

These remarks got The Fact Checker wondering.

How does a member of Congress end up with a $12,000-$15,000 deductible when lawmakers are supposed to select low-deductible Gold plans?

And would a person making one-fifth of the congressional salary actually have to pay such a high deductible under the Affordable Care Act?

Let’s explore. Continue reading “Mulvaney’s suggestion that a person making one-fifth his pay couldn’t afford a doctor”

Secretary Ben Carson made a comparison to slaves coming to the United States as immigrants, saying America was the only country “big enough” to allow them to realize their dreams.

The following column by Michael Hiltzik was posted on the L.A. Times website March 6, 2017:

After weeks of expectations — actually, nearly seven years of expectations — House Republicans on Monday released their proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Elements of the proposal, which was kept under lock and key last week — have been dribbling out for a few days. The text of the bill encompassing the GOP plan validates much of that reporting. On the whole, however, it’s a nastier, more consumer-unfriendly proposal than even close followers could have expected. Continue reading “Secretary Ben Carson made a comparison to slaves coming to the United States as immigrants, saying America was the only country “big enough” to allow them to realize their dreams.”

Obamacare “Replacement”

The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountability website March 7, 2017:


The Republicans released their replacement of Obamacare Monday afternoon. Here are the most important takeaways:

  1. The plan includes tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans
  2. There will be less financial support for older and poorer Americans
  3. Because there is less money raised in taxes, many Americans will effectively lose their coverage
  4. Republicans crafted the plan in secrecy (even their own members didn’t know the full details)
  5. The full impact of the plan is not clear because it has not been scored by the Congressional Budget Office

Winners: Wealthy Americans and insurance companies

Losers: Older and poorer Americans

Call your representatives to demand that full hearings and town halls be held to review the impact of the bill before it’s too late.