• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Donate Now
  • Sign Up

Center for Medicare Advocacy

Advancing Access to Medicare and Healthcare

  • Eligibility/Enrollment
  • Coverage/Appeals
    • Medicare Costs (2021)
    • Self Help Materials – Toolkits & More
  • Topics
    • Basic Introduction to Medicare
    • COVID-19 and Medicare
    • Medicare Costs (2021)
    • Home Health Care
    • Improvement Standard and Jimmo News
    • Nursing Home / Skilled Nursing Facility Care
    • Outpatient Observation Status
    • Part B
    • Part D / Prescription Drug Benefits
    • Medicare for People Under 65
    • Medicare “Reform”
    • All Other Topics
    • Resources
      • Infographics
  • Publications
    • CMA Alerts
    • Fact Sheets & Issue Briefs
    • Infographics
    • The Medicare Handbook
    • SNF Enforcement Newsletter
    • Elder Justice Newsletter
    • Medicare Facts & Fiction
    • Articles by Topic
  • Litigation
    • Litigation News
    • Cases
    • Litigation Archive
    • Amicus Curiae Activities
  • Newsroom
    • Press Releases
    • Editorials & Letters to the Editor
    • CMA Comments, Responses, and Letters
    • Medicare Facts & Fiction
    • CMA in the News
  • About Us
    • Mission Statement
    • CMA FAQs
    • Annual Report
    • Personnel & Boards
    • The Center for Medicare Advocacy Founder’s Circle
    • Connecticut Dually Eligible Appeals Project
    • Ossen Medicare Outreach, Education and Advocacy Project
    • National Medicare Advocates Alliance
    • National Voices of Medicare Summit
    • CMA Webinars
    • Products & Services
    • Testimonials
    • Career, Fellowship & Internship Opportunities
    • Contact Us
  • Support Our Work
    • Donate Now
    • Join the Center for Medicare Advocacy Founder’s Circle
    • Take Action
    • Share Your Health Care Story
    • Tell Congress to Protect Our Care
    • Listen to Medicare & Health Care Stories
    • Sign Up

American Health Care Act (AHCA): A Repeal and Regress Plan

March 7, 2017

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

March 7, 2017, Washington, DC – Last night House Republicans presented a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and cut Medicaid payments to states.  While the new bill, “America Health Care Act” (AHCA) lacks either an estimate of how many people will lose their health insurance coverage as a result of the bill or how much it will cost, House committees plan to mark up the bill as early as tomorrow – mere hours after the bill was introduced. Instead of providing meaningful improvement to ACA, the new bill represents a regression to the less secure, pre-ACA health insurance environment.

The proposed bill would dismantle key structural supports of ACA, including eliminating the employer coverage mandate and the individual mandate to obtain health coverage, and instead would impose a 30% penalty for lapses in coverage. Instead of the ACA’s subsidies that make health coverage more affordable for millions, the new legislation would offer age-based tax credits ranging from about $2,000 to $4,000 – likely insufficient to pay for meaningful insurance coverage.

The proposed AHCA would also gut key financing mechanisms of the Affordable Care Act that would amount to tax cuts for the wealthy – by some estimates, by hundreds of billions of dollars. “Regrettably, these tax cuts include provisions that would jeopardize Medicare’s financial stability,” says Judith Stein, executive director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy. “We fear such cuts will lead to renewed calls to ‘save’ Medicare by privatizing it for future generations,” Stein continued.

Older Americans needing health insurance coverage before becoming eligible for Medicare would also be hurt by the proposed AHCA.  The ACA’s protection of older adults that prevents insurance companies from charging no more than three times the premium amount charged of younger individuals (a 3:1 ratio) would be replaced by a 5:1 ratio – dramatically increasing the amount insurance companies can charge older adults.

The bill would also phase out ACA’s expansion of Medicaid starting in 2020.  Most devastatingly, it would structurally reform virtually the entire Medicaid program (including Medicaid expansion) by capping federal Medicaid payments to each state to a limited, preset amount per person (often referred to as a “Per Capita Cap”).  This change would substantially reduce federal funding for Medicaid, a key safety net program. It will shift costs to states, inevitably resulting in cuts to services, eligibility and provider payments – and to fewer people obtaining Medicaid and quality services. These changes will disproportionately harm children and the elderly, the main recipients of Medicaid support.

The Affordable Care Act expanded health insurance coverage for tens of millions of Americans. We cannot accept the AHCA plan, which would strip away existing health care and jeopardize Medicare, Medicaid and the states. The AHCA repeal plan would take us back to the time when families all over the country lacked insurance. 

###

The Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., established in 1986, is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan law organization that provides education, advocacy, analysis and legal assistance to help older people and people with disabilities obtain fair access to Medicare and quality health care. We focus on the needs of Medicare beneficiaries, people with chronic conditions, and those in need of long-term care. The organization is involved in writing, education, and advocacy of importance to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide. The Center is headquartered in Connecticut and Washington, DC, with offices throughout the country.

Filed Under: Article, Press Release Tagged With: ACA, Medicare and Health Care Reform, Medicare and Health Reform, obamacare, The Fight

Primary Sidebar

Easy Access to Understanding Medicare

The Center for Medicare Advocacy produces a range of informative materials on Medicare-related topics. Check them out:

  • Medicare Basics
  • CMA Alerts
  • CMA Webinars
  • Connecticut Info & Projects
  • Health Care Stories
  • Se habla Español

Sign Up for CMA Alerts

Jimmo v. Sebelius

Medicare covers skilled care to maintain or slow decline as well as to improve.

Improvement Isn’t Required. It’s the law!

Read more.

Medicare: Build Back Better

By prioritizing Medicare beneficiaries and the health systems that serve them, we can avoid drastic national consequences. The Center for Medicare Advocacy proposes a five-part plan that will make Medicare a bulwark against the worsening health and economic challenges facing the American people.

Learn more.

Latest Tweets

  • Special thanks from @CMAorg to @PowersLawFirm for the many years of ongoing support and for sponsoring our recent N… https://t.co/8z36yJHyQd, 11 hours ago
@CMAorg

Footer

Stay Connected:

  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap
  • Products & Services
  • Copyright/Privacy

© 2021 · Center for Medicare Advocacy