May 4, 20179 yr The House is expected to pass a healthcare bill today. Unbelievably, I did not see a thread that just talked about the progress on health care reform under this new Republican administration. Let's talk about what changes were made to get this bill through the House and its prospects going forward.
May 4, 20179 yr Author I have not heard confirmation on the details and changes. Things I have heard speculated are that pre-existing conditions are going to be covered by some sort of a pool, states are going to be given more freedom to manage medicaid and there will be more variety in the options that are available to consumers. I also heard speculation that they will be bringing back association plans. Finally, I heard a couple of people comment that President Trump was very involved in getting this bill into its current shape and getting the votes needed to pass it.
May 4, 20179 yr Author More detail ... a key part of moving the bill to a vote is President Trump endorsing a plan that will add eight billion dollars over 5 years to help fund high risk pools and cover pre-existing conditions.
May 4, 20179 yr I read that the new proposal keeps the Congressional Exemption from ACA for now but that the Republican leadership is taking up that exemption in a future proposal.
May 4, 20179 yr Author Apparently there will be plenty of time for everyone to review and digest this bill if it gets approved in House today. The Senate is not expected to consider the bill until July.
May 4, 20179 yr Author Obamacare subsidies will be replaced with a tiered tax credit. The credit will be based on age and income with lower credits for the young and credits phasing out the higher your income is. Mandated coverage is being eliminated. There will be no tax penalties for people who do not have coverage and the 50 employees requirement on businesses is going away. Insurers will be allowed to impose a one-year 30% premium surcharge for people who let their coverage lapse longer than 63 days. Insurer age bands will be expanded from a 3-1 ratio to 5-1. Currently insurers can only charge older people (50's, 60's) 3 times the premium charged to younger people. This bill increases that to 5 times the younger person premium.
May 4, 20179 yr Obamacare subsidies will be replaced with a tiered tax credit. The credit will be based on age and income with lower credits for the young and credits phasing out the higher your income is. Mandated coverage is being eliminated. There will be no tax penalties for people who do not have coverage and the 50 employees requirement on businesses is going away. Insurers will be allowed to impose a one-year 30% premium surcharge for people who let their coverage lapse longer than 63 days. Insurer age bands will be expanded from a 3-1 ratio to 5-1. Currently insurers can only charge older people (50's, 60's) 3 times the premium charged to younger people. This bill increases that to 5 times the younger person premium. I'm not seeing an issue with any of that.
May 4, 20179 yr I'm not seeing an issue with any of that. It's certainly better, and addresses many concerns.
May 4, 20179 yr Author I'm not seeing an issue with any of that. Me either. All these changes sound like they are for the better to me. I don't think there is anyone who believes Obamacare needed no changes. I will be interested in seeing how the Democrats react to these changes. So far I don't see anything they should be complaining about.
May 4, 20179 yr Me either. All these changes sound like they are for the better to me. I don't think there is anyone who believes Obamacare needed no changes. I will be interested in seeing how the Democrats react to these changes. So far I don't see anything they should be complaining about. This is a step in the right direction.
May 4, 20179 yr Author I have stated several times that the Democrats are making a big mistake if they choose to be opposed no matter what changes the Republicans propose. If they were really smart, they would hijack a proposal like the one I am seeing here and vote for it. If the bill keeps the major provisions of Obamacare in place, they should support the bill and praise it as Obamacare reform versus repeal and replace.
May 4, 20179 yr I have stated several times that the Democrats are making a big mistake if they choose to be opposed no matter what changes the Republicans propose. If they were really smart, they would hijack a proposal like the one I am seeing here and vote for it. If the bill keeps the major provisions of Obamacare in place, they should support the bill and praise it as Obamacare reform versus repeal and replace. But then they'd have to give President Trump and Speaker Ryan credit for working on a bipartisan solution and we all know that'll never happen.
May 4, 20179 yr The 11 states most likely to be affected by pre-existing conditions all voted for Trump - CNN The 11 states most likely to be affected by pre-existing conditions all voted for Trump
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