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The full-text of the American Healthcare Act was released on Thursday. But before we jump to conclusions, let’s read the fine print. This act is also known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017.
According to the draft of this developing act, funding for low income Americans health coverage will be cut back, and tax credits for middle income Americans who buy their own health insurance will also receive a blow.
If signed into law, this act will defund Planned Parenthood for at least one year. This act will also eliminate the individual mandate penalty that imposes a fine if you do not purchase health insurance.
The act will also include cuts to Medicaid expansion, but this cutback won’t happen until at least 2020.
However, this plan will provide funding set up to alleviate and stabilize the Obamacare markets in the near future.
This act will also look to cut off federal funding to abortion providers, as previously mentioned. None of the allocated funds will go to providers who are involved with abortions.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hopes to prop up this bill next week for a Senatorial vote. The Republicans will need 50 bills for the American Healthcare Act to be passed. There’s is 52 Republicans in the senate and no Democrat from the senate has voice their support for the bill. If the Senate Bill passes, Congress would have to play negotiator between the Senate and the House before it reaches the desk of President Donald J. Trump.
Here’s a look at the full 142 pages of the act, there’s a lot more intricacies, so you better check it out if you’d like to remain informed. But if that’s too much to digest, here’s a quick rundown of the bill…
Here’s the rundown, folks
Tax Credits: The Senate Bill is looking to assist people to pay their health insurance based upon their income level. However, the House Bill calls for this assistance to based off of the person’s age rather than income level. According to the mandates of the Senate Bill, anyone who earns 350 percent of the poverty level will be eligible for tax credits. On the other hand, Obama caps this level at 400 percent of the poverty level.
This bill is less generous at the insured person ages. For example, a person who is 33-years-old making 175 percent of the federal poverty level will only spend 5.3 percent of their income on healthcare premiums, resulting for the bill’s tax credit system. But for people who are over the age of 59, purchasing premiums will cost 8.3 percent of your income.
Medicare Spending Growth: After 2025, spending increases will be reallocated from consumer price index for medical care to the CPI for all goods. This means that states will receive a reduced amount of funding each year to assist lower income Americans with healthcare. And every year after 2025, the rate will continue to decline.
Medicaid Work Requirements: This bill introduces state-enforced Medicaid work requirements. This provision allows states the option to make employment a requirement to receive Medicaid services. However, this mandate does not apply to students, pregnant women or the disabled.
Cost-sharing subsidies: This bill allocates money for cost-sharing subsidies through 2019, which offsets the cost for insurers to give low-income citizens programs with lower out-of-pocket cost. The end game of this plan is to reduce the cost of premiums.
State-waivers for Obamacare Regulations: This bill allows states to request a waiver which they can use to opt out of the Obama’s essential health benefits mandate, will enforces all plans to cover 10 basic types of care. This provision may result in cheaper premiums, but can lead to higher out-of-pocket costs and diminished offerings on the state’s insurance market.
Repealing Obamacare’s Taxes: This bill eliminates the 3.8 tax on investment on citizens earning an annual income above $200,000. The House Bill also has this provision. This will see the taxes of wealthier Americans diminish. For example, this rich guy will see save roughly $44 million if the Senate Bill is signed into law.
Grants to Fight the Opioid Crisis: This bill contains a provision which establishes a $2 billion statewide fund for programs that “support substance use disorder treatment and recovery support services for individuals with mental or substance use disorders.”
However, this opioid crisis fund is only set up for 2018.
