The bill would likely cause millions to lose health insurance coverage. We don’t know how many because the latest version of the Republican plan has not yet been scored by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to estimate how many people it would cover and how much it would cost. The most recent score for the bill, before new amendments offered in recent weeks, found that 24 million more people would be uninsured by 2026.
Still, even without the CBO score, we have a very good sense of how the bill would work, whom it benefits, and whom it disadvantages.
TL;DR: If you are sick or elderly, you’re going to be in trouble. The bill:
- Allows states to opt out of pre-existing conditions. The definition of “pre-existing conditions” is being expanded to include sexual assault.
- Would create high-risk pools for the sickest citizens, but doesn’t include near enough funding to keep these from collapsing.
- End Medicaid expansion in 2020 and remove $880 billion from the program.
- Could bring back lifetime caps on insurance coverage.
- Includes an exemption for legislators’ insurance.
- Is being voted on before the public or CBO have had a chance to review.
- “Essential health benefits” (including prescriptions, hospitalization, pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care, counseling, physical rehab, oral and vision care for children and more) could be made optional, even for those on plans purchased by their employer.
- Does not include the setup of cross-state purchasing, even though Trump has promised it would multiple times.
- Cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans.
- Drastically increase costs for older enrollees.
This bill is shameful, and the Republicans who back it should be voted out of office in 2018.