House plan cuts insurance for 23M
WASHINGTON — The House Republican plan to replace Obamacare would reduce deficits by $119 billion but increase the number of Americans without health insurance by 23 million over the next decade, concluded a report released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
About 1 million Ohioans would lose health coverage — 700,000 from the Medicaid expansion and an estimated 293,000 now on private health-care exchanges, the office of Sen. Sherrod Brown said.
The much-anticipated analysis, completed with the Joint Committee on Taxation, also found that in states that receive a waiver from market regulations, the price for those who become ill or who have pre-existing conditions could skyrocket to the point that they would ultimately be priced out of the market.
In short: Those who are healthy would still be able to buy health insurance with lower premiums, but those who are not could not. The report found that while premiums would be about the same or lower for young people with lower income, premiums for older people with lower income would be “much larger than under current law,” on average.
The report also cautioned that the narrower scope of benefits covered in many plans might cause “substantial” increases in out-of-pocket healthcare costs for everything from mental-health care to maternity care to pediatric dental care.
The score was released 20 days after the House narrowly passed a bill that aimed to make sweeping changes to the 2010 health-care law officially called the Affordable Care Act. Since then, the Trump administration has moved forward on a budget proposal that assumes passage of the House bill.
Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Township, said the bill is “just the start” and is needed to help stop skyrocketing costs caused by Obamacare.
“House Republicans and the administration will continue to focus on additional steps we can take to restore the free market, increase choices and lower costs so that Americans can afford the plans they want and need,” he said.
In contrast, Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, said the GOP bill “is offensively bad, and will destroy the health-care system Americans have come to rely on.”
The House bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Reuters on Wednesday that he does not know how the Senate gets to the necessary 50 votes on the bill.
Among those in the “no” column: Ohio’s two senators.
The Democrat Brown said, “The House bill will drive up costs, kick Ohioans off their insurance and leave folks who have asthma or cancer unable to even purchase a plan.” When Ohioans lose health coverage, more will flock to emergency rooms for help, costing hospitals an estimated $264 million for uncompensated treatment in 2018 alone, he said.
Republican Sen. Rob Portman indicated earlier this month that he doesn’t support the House bill because it doesn’t do enough to protect Ohio’s Medicaid expansion population, especially those being treated for opioid abuse. Emily Benavides, a Portman spokeswoman, said that position has not changed.
“We will review the new analysis as we work on a different approach here in the Senate,” she said.
Failing to repeal and replace Obamacare would be a political embarrassment for Republicans, who made that promise a centerpiece of last year’s campaign. An earlier attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare failed to muster enough votes, and House leadership chose to pull the bill rather than see it fail on the floor. That plan would have boosted the number of uninsured to 24 million but would have cut the deficit by $150 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
At the demand of conservatives, the revised bill would allow states to ask the federal government to exempt them from some of the existing rules. For example, if a person with a pre-existing condition bought a policy in the exchanges and let it lapse for more than 63 days, the insurance company could charge a higher premium.
The revised bill also would also allow states to ask the federal government to exempt insurance companies from being required to provide insurance with a minimum package of benefits.
The bill would not directly affect those who receive their insurance through employers or through Medicare.
The bill passed by the House in May was unusual in that it was voted on before the budget office was able to score it. It would kill the federal subsidies and mandates requiring people to buy insurance and offer a refundable tax credit ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 to allow people to buy individual policies through federal or state marketplaces known as exchanges.