Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

House GOP plans health care bill showdown next week

  • Health
  • by Ana Radelat
  • April 20, 2017
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

C-SPAN

House Speaker Paul Ryan talks last month about the failure to pass the Republican health bill.

Washington – House GOP leaders hope to have another showdown over their plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act next week, but the legislation may still lack the votes it needs for approval.

The bill failed last month because dozens of Republicans shunned it and not a single Democrat would support it. But GOP leaders plan to amend the American Health Care Act with a provision sponsored by moderate Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., that aims to win over enough conservative and moderate Republican holdouts.

The amendment would keep the federal mandate that insurers provide “essential health benefits” that include maternity, mental health care and other types of coverage. But it would allow states to apply for a waiver of this requirement if they can prove that would lower premiums and expand the number of people with health care coverage.

The MacArthur amendment also would allow states to apply for waivers that would let insurers charge people with pre-existing conditions higher premiums, as long as those states make a high-risk pool available to those patients.

It also would allow states to apply for permission to let insurers abandon “community rating,” which sets rates based on geography, not on age or other risk factors. But those states that allow insurers to rate patients individually would not be allowed to charge women more than men or older people more than five times the premium charged younger ones.

GOP leaders, who have negotiated with conservative Freedom Caucus members and moderate Republicans over the two-week congressional recess, hope the changes win the support of 18 to 20 GOP lawmakers who resisted supporting the American Health Care Act last month.

Democrats said the proposed changes only made the health bill worse.

“Last month, Republicans threw together a disaster of a bill that would jack up health care costs and strip insurance away from 24 million Americans,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “Everybody hated it…Now, this monstrosity of a bill is back, and to make the bill more palatable to right-wingers, the big change appears to be the abandonment of the protections for people with preexisting conditions.”

Murphy said the bill is “yet another Trump promise shattered.”

“The Republican health care repeal bill was an unworkable, unpopular piece of garbage a month ago, and it still is today” he said.

The nation’s top medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, also have rejected the GOP’s “repeal and replace” bill.

Insurers wary of GOP approach

Health insurers are concerned the GOP health bill  eliminates  the Obamacare requirement  most people purchase insurance. Insurers want more generous subsidies than the GOP plan proposes to help people afford their premiums, bringing them more customers and broadening the risk pool.

The  American Health Insurance Act subsidies, in the form of refundable tax credits, would run from $2,000 annually for those under 30 to $4,000 for those 60 to 65. The credits would taper off for individuals who earn $75,000 or more a year.  The Affordable Care Act has more generous subsidies for lower-income people.

Some insurers also were concerned about the AHCA’s proposed cuts to Medicaid, the joint federal-state health care plan for the poor.

Kristine Grow, spokeswoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, said,  “We are continuing to analyze various proposals as they are being introduced and discussed over the recess.”

Grow said insurers would back the requirement that people with pre-existing conditions receive coverage and support the establishment of high-risk pools if there is a mechanism in the new health care law that requires people to keep continuous coverage.

The American Health Care Act would penalize those who have lapses in coverage with a 30 percent surcharge on their premiums when they sign up for insurance again. Insurers say the penalty is not high enough.

The AHCA also would provide about $100 billion to the states in a “stability fund” that could be used to establish and subsidize high-risk pools. The MacArthur amendment would add another $15 billion to that fund. But some insurers say that is not enough.

“Generally, we have said we believe a federal stability fund for high-risk pools, appropriately funded, would be a positive step toward stability,” Grow said. “We will be analyzing the impact of specific proposals for how such funding and risk pools would work.”

Of greater concern for insurers is the future of an Affordable Care Act provision that helps subsidize co-payments and deductibles for low- and medium-income people.

House Republicans have sued to eliminate the program, which will bring the insurance industry about $7 billion this year. The GOP argued the payments are illegal because Congress never authorized them, and won in a lower court.

The Obama administration appealed, and the Trump administration said it would continue the payments pending resolution of that appeal.

But Congress must pass a budget by April 28 that would fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, and insurers worry the cost-sharing program will be defunded.

Earlier this week, insurance executives met with Seema Verma, the new head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency in charge of the Affordable Care Act.

Grow said the industry appreciated the opportunity to meet with Verma on a number of topics, incuding the future of the individual market and Medicare and Medicaid.

“But (we) reiterated our most pressing concern: the instability in the individual market created by the uncertainty of funding for the cost sharing reduction (CSR) program,” Grow said.

Kelly Donnelly, a spokeswoman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, said she could not comment on “what Republicans in Congress may or may not do — especially when they aren’t offering a clear direction or vision. ”

“With that said, what we can say is that we continue to be concerned about stabilizing the marketplace,” Donnelly said.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Final passage of ‘Crown Act’ comes on unanimous vote
by Mark Pazniokas

With a unanimous vote, Connecticut became the latest state to adopt legislation prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race.

Senate confirms Miguel Cardona as U.S. Secretary of Education
by Adria Watson

Cardona was the youngest principal in the state of Connecticut.

Nora Dannehy named top legal aide to Lamont
by Mark Pazniokas

The hiring of Nora Dannehy brings a high-profile legal talent into Lamont's office at the mid-point of his four-year term.

Medical providers are taking nature therapy seriously
by Jenifer Frank | C-HIT.ORG

In a time of social isolation and staying home, sometimes a walk in the park is the best medicine.

Have a case of a COVID variant? No one is going to tell you
by Christina Jewett and JoNel Aleccia | Kaiser Health News and Rachana Pradhan

Federal rules around who can be told about the variant cases are confusing, and tests have not been approved.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Fitness is part of Connecticut’s COVID solution
by David Humphrey

Based on what we now know about infection rates and transmission, it is more apparent than ever before that gyms, fitness centers, and the physical and mental health benefits of exercise are essential to help our state get through the months ahead.

Opinion Connecticut can’t afford state government-run health insurance
by Mike Licamele

As much as I support strengthening and improving healthcare, I do not believe SB 842 is the way to do that. Instead of trying to force Connecticut residents into a new, government-controlled healthcare system, lawmakers should focus on improving our existing one by building on what’s working and continuing to address lowering costs, not raising taxes

Opinion Disabled, marginalized, stalled and walled
by Doris Maldonado

As a bilingual health information specialist for PATH P2P Family Voices CT and National Family Voices Cultural Responsiveness Telehealth Team, I offer more than professional expertise as well as despair for the marginalized within marginalized communities. I am a Latina with disabilities, adoptive mother of 17-year-old twins with special needs and a thriving toddler.

Opinion The marijuana legalization debate must be based on facts
by Will Jones III

In response to my earlier piece on why Connecticut lawmakers should reject marijuana commercialization,  Brendan Ruberry wrote a rebuttal that, on its face seems scathing, but to be clear, the attempted rebuttal falls flat and well off the mark.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO