GOP health care proposal would be unhealthy for many

It’s not exactly a secret that Pat Meehan is no fan of the Affordable Care Act.

The 7th District Republican representing parts of Delaware, Berks, Montgomery and Chester counties, has spent the better part of the past six years joining his Republican colleagues in voting to overturn the signature piece of legislation of former President Obama.

But those votes always came with a bit of a safety net. That would be the sure knowledge that Obama would be waiting with his handy veto pen, thus blunting the votes to overturn the program commonly referred to as Obamacare.

That was BT. Before Trump. Donald Trump made a repeal of the Affordable Care Act a centerpiece of his campaign.

After taking office, President Trump and other Republicans started sounding a bit more cautionary note, incredulously admitting that health care was not as simple as it looked.

Even some Republicans in Congress, including Meehan, wondered about how quickly some of their GOP colleagues were looking to dismantle the program, especially in light of the fact that they had yet to reveal a plan of their own.

Faced with weekly protests outside his district office, Meehan began talking about “rescue and repair,” as opposed to “repeal and replace.” Meehan did vote with Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee to roll back Obamacare.

Those words seem even more profound now that House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has rolled out the much-awaited GOP plan, named the American Health Care Act.

The GOP plan keeps two of the most popular aspects of the Affordable Care Act – allowing dependents under age 26 to remain on their parents’ plans, and keeping insurance companies from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.

The plan differs from the current offering in several key ways, most prominently killing off the requirement that all individuals have coverage or face tax penalties. The GOP plan would offer tax credit based on a person’s age. That ignores one of the underpinnings of young adults and health care: They are much less likely to purchase coverage they don’t believe they need unless threatened with a penalty for doing so.

This week the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office weighed in, predicting that the Republican bill would leave 24 million people uninsured over the next decade.

Just in the next year, the CBO estimates 14 million would wind up uninsured, with six million failing to get coverage on the individual market, and another 5 million fewer via Medicaid.

The GOP plan offers huge tax breaks to the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, while tightening the reins on many state Medicaid programs. The states would get less money, meaning fewer people would likely be covered, and services would be reduced.

It’s no bargain for those who retain their coverage either. The CBO says their premiums would likely rise in 2018 and 2019 by 15 to 20 percent, due to the fact that, with the penalty for not opting in lifted, fewer people would enroll, making it more expensive for those who did.

Eventually, the CBO estimates, costs would come down. By 2026 they believe average premiums would actually be lower than they are now, but they temper that news by saying it would vary by age, with the likelihood that older Americans would pay more because the GOP plan would allow them to be charged more than young people. Both Pennsylvania Sen. Robert Casey and Gov Tom Wolf, representing one of the “grayest” states in the union, have zeroed in on this plank, labeling it little more than an age tax.

The reaction from the White House and many Republicans to the CBO report: They’re wrong. They always get their numbers wrong. They note the same group vastly overestimated the number of people who would enroll in President Obama’s program.

We urge Rep. Meehan – and all our representatives – to think long and hard before throwing their support behind this plan.

It’s not “rescue and repair.” If you ask some Republicans, it’s not repeal and replace either.

What it is is a bad plan, bad policy that would leave too many once again outside looking in when it comes to health care and hitting many of those who remain with higher costs.

No one is arguing that there were no problems with Obamacare. Even most Democrats conceded it needed to be tweaked. This isn’t the way to do it.