Tag: Obamacare

Senate Repeal Bill Would Still Eviscerate Coverage and Protections for People with Pre-Existing Conditions

The following article by Thomas Huelskoetter and Emily Gee was posted on the Center for American Progress website June 9, 2017:

AP/David Zalubowski
A doctor checks a patient in a primary care clinic located in a low-income neighborhood, March 2017.

Recent reports indicate that the emerging Senate version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) may not include the House version’s provision permitting states to waive the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) community rating provision, which prevents insurers from charging sick people higher premiums than healthy people.

Even without community rating waivers, the Senate bill would still critically weaken protections for people with pre-existing conditions. By allowing states to waive the ACA’s essential health benefits (EHB) requirements, it would enable insurers to effectively screen out sick people by excluding certain services. Continue reading “Senate Repeal Bill Would Still Eviscerate Coverage and Protections for People with Pre-Existing Conditions”

Yes, Americans Die Earlier Without Health Insurance

The following article by Lesley Clark with the McClatchy Washington Bureau was posted on the National Memo website May 11, 2017:

Photo: Reuters

WASHINGTON — Do people die because they lack health insurance?

Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, found himself in a pickle (and in a cameo in a Jimmy Kimmel monologue) when he suggested they don’t. He later elaborated that he was making the point that no one would “die in the streets” under the Republican health care plan, because hospitals are required by law to treat any patient in need of emergency care.

But health care advocates say his explanation falls short of reality, pointing to a host of studies that show access to health care does prevent premature death, in the case of Americans with conditions such as cancer, diabetes, coronary heart disease, respiratory failure and asthma. Continue reading “Yes, Americans Die Earlier Without Health Insurance”

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”

Even in Trump’s base, his path forward on health care is awfully unpopular

The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website April 25, 2017:

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump’s proposal on health care was nebulously perfect. Obamacare — that is, the Affordable Care Act — would be gone, he told his cheering supporters, replaced by something cheaper, better and more expansive that wouldn’t be burdened by the hated word “Obama.”

When it came time to deliver on that promise, very early in his administration, the bill that was offered up was somewhat distant from that target. The American Health Care Act would actually see fewer people covered by a decade from now, independent analysis indicated, and costs would drop largely because those with the most expensive plans would stop getting coverage. Trump halfheartedly championed the bill even though it wasn’t his creation. When it collapsed, the exhalation from the White House was nearly audible. Continue reading “Even in Trump’s base, his path forward on health care is awfully unpopular”

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”

Do members of Congress pay for 100 percent of their health insurance?

The following article by Michelle Ye Hee Lee was posted on the Washington Post website April 17, 2017:

Question: “Who pays your salary?”
Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.): “I am self-employed, I’ve been self-employed, and I pay more taxes inside my own company personally than I’ll ever receive from being in Congress. I pay my own, and I pay my own insurance. … So don’t mislead and think that you’re paying mine. I do. Also, every member of Congress, they pay for their own insurance, too. We are put into the exchange. We’re not a federal employee. We go into the D.C. exchange and we personally have to pay for 100 percent of it. Not a percentage, all of it.”
— Exchange during a town hall, April 10, 2017

Question: “Where do you get your insurance?”
Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.): “I will say, just because there’s a lot of misinformation on it: I am on Obamacare. So that’s what Congress does.”
— Exchange during a town hall, April 10, 2017 Continue reading “Do members of Congress pay for 100 percent of their health insurance?”

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”

New Data Deliver Good News for Health Care and Bad News for Speaker Ryan’s Tax Reform Plan

The following article by Harry Stein and Alex Rowell was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 30, 2017:

AP/J. Scott Applewhite
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) announces that he is abruptly pulling the troubled American Health Care Act off the House floor, at the Capitol in Washington, March 24, 2017.

Shortly after Congress’ failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, new budget data confirm the sustainability of the federal government’s major health care programs. These budget data also illustrate a major hurdle for the tax reform plan advocated by House Republican leaders. This new information comes from the Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, and it includes updated projections for the cost of federal programs; tax revenue levels; budget deficits; and economic variables such as gross domestic product, or GDP.

The projected costs of federal health care programs have fallen dramatically since the passage of the ACA. Despite false claims to the contrary, federal health programs are not facing a “death spiral” of exploding costs. The United States has more than enough economic capacity to continue to sustain these programs in the future; repealing the ACA would have instead used American economic capacity to cut taxes for the wealthy. Continue reading “New Data Deliver Good News for Health Care and Bad News for Speaker Ryan’s Tax Reform Plan”

$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”

Dump The Myth That Obamacare Froze Out Republicans

The following article by Froma Harrop was posted on the National Memo website March 21, 2017:

It’s true. The Affordable Care Act was passed without a single Republican vote. Republicans repeatedly cite this fact as Obamacare’s original sin, a fatal flaw that justifies their efforts to dismantle the ACA.

But let’s set that record straight. Obamacare was a bipartisan plan. It just didn’t get a bipartisan vote. Continue reading “Dump The Myth That Obamacare Froze Out Republicans”