A bill working its way through the U.S. House of Representatives changes national health care insurance.
Example of Pricing
A 55-year-old earning $25,000 a year could see premiums go up to $3,600; a 64-year-old earning $25,000 a year would pay $7,000 more in premiums, while someone the same age earning $15,000 a year could see insurance premiums go up as much as $8,400. Policy holders between the ages of 20 and 29 are expected to save on average anywhere from $700 to $4,000 a year.single filers making as much as $115,000 will benefit from a tax credit in 2020,
Medicare
Today, the Medicare Trust Fund is projected to have enough money to pay 100 percent of benefits through 2028. Under the House bill, that timeline is shortened by up to four years, leaving the door open for future benefit cuts and the prospect of turning Medicare into a voucher system. Vouchers (which proponents call “premium support”) would dramatically increase health care costs and risks for current and future retirees.
Medicaid
The fundamentally change to Medicaid mandates by the American Health Care Act shift the costs of providing care onto states. States could then reduce eligibility or cut provider payments.
Pharmaceutical Companies
The bill gives a tax break to these companies. There are no provisions to address the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs.
Folks most likely to suffer from the alignment of the new bill. If premiums grow faster than inflation over time, the proposed tax credits will grow more slowly. Medicaid cuts could also be harmful to rural hospitals, which are already struggling to keep their doors open. Enrollees making around $20,000 a year at any age may be hit hardest because premiums will outpace their take home pay.
Professional organizations that have spoken against it now include: the American Nurses Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, Association of American Medical Colleges, American Hospital Association, and Children’s Hospital Association. The insurance-industry group America’s Health Insurance Plans did caution Republicans against paring down Medicaid