A Hint From GOP Leaders: Replacement Plan May Not Maintain Health Law’s Coverage Expansions
The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2015 that an Obamacare repeal would result in about 19 million people losing their health insurance. Ideas offered so far do not provide as much financial aid to purchase coverage and could lead to an increase in uninsured people. This possibility is at odds with President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign assurances that people won't be left without.
Bloomberg:
GOP Won’t Say If People Will Lose Insurance In Obamacare Repeal
Top Republicans in Congress are refusing to promise that their plans to replace Obamacare won’t result in more uninsured Americans, putting them on a possible collision course with President-elect Donald Trump. "Look, I’m not going to get ahead of our committee process," House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Thursday when asked if he can guarantee a GOP replacement would cover as many people as the Affordable Care Act. "We’re just beginning to put this together." House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was also reluctant to make that commitment when asked on Tuesday, saying, "There’s a lot of areas that you want to look at." (Kapur, 1/5)
The Hill:
GOP Won't Promise ObamaCare Fix Will Cover All
Republican leaders are refusing to commit to their ObamaCare replacement plan covering as many people as President Obama's health law. Congressional Republicans are quickly moving forward to pass a repeal of ObamaCare and say a replacement plan will come later this year. But it's unclear whether that eventual replacement will provide insurance options for at least 20 million people, the number who gained coverage under ObamaCare, amid worries that many could lose their health insurance. (Sullivan, 1/5)
In related news -
CQ Roll Call:
Republicans Consider Keeping Some Obamacare Taxes Intact
Republicans are considering a package to repeal the 2010 health care law that could keep some of the law's taxes that remain unpopular with industry officials. The health care overhaul included several taxes to help pay for the tax credits and exchanges at the heart of Obamacare. Those include the so-called Cadillac tax on expensive health plans, the health insurance tax and medical device tax. Republicans are moving to repeal the health care law (PL 111-148, PL 111-152) through a complicated process known as reconciliation and have set out an aggressive timeline for moving forward on that process. They remain divided, however, on exactly which parts of the legislation they will be able to repeal, given political divisions about issues like Medicaid expansion. (Mershon, 1/5)
