House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. uses charts and graphs to make his case for the GOP’s long-awaited plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Trump tweeted his support of the proposal Tuesday, calling it “our wonderful new Healthcare Bill“. It was a central campaign issue in 2016. Representatives from The Heritage Foundation, Club for Growth, Tea Party Patriots and Americans for Prosperity were all told that the administration was open to making changes to the bill, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting. The Kaiser Family Foundation predicts that “people who are older, lower-income, or live in high-premium areas (like Alaska and Arizona) receive larger tax credits under the ACA than they would under the American Health Care Act replacement”. Obamacare determined tax credits based on income, age and the local cost of insurance.
But Trump tweeted, “I feel sure that my friend @RandPaul will come along with the new and great health care program because he knows Obamacare is a disaster!“.
House Republicans have laid out their alternative for ObamaCare, and it continues to take heat from both moderates and conservatives.
Democrats pointed out that the bill would also provide a tax break for health insurance companies, allowing them to take tax deductions for executive compensation exceeding $500,000 a year.
The proposed also legislation eliminated prior plans for a controversial tax on high-value employer health plans.
Trump’s comments echo many prominent Republicans who have said the ACA is “collapsing” or in a “death spiral”. After that date, the expansion would end and Medicaid funding would be capped on a per-person basis. These folks have been helped by the law’s expansion of Medicaid and its subsides that are more generous for those lower on the income ladder.
The majority of New Yorkers in the exchange are on Medicaid, the health-insurance program for the poor and disabled. The President sent out a tweet on Monday, after the plan was revealed, saying that the bill was “wonderful”, but changed his opinion after many groups raised their concern regarding the project. I was also saying that Obamacare has increased premiums on working, middle-class families by nearly 200% in some places, and with deductibles of over $10,000, many don’t actually have access to healthcare.
The Republican plan doesn’t require that people purchase insurance, but allows insurers to punish those who don’t maintain “continuous coverage”. As we move from a Washington-driven system to a more vibrant market, we will make sure no one has the rug pulled out from under them. They hope that can lead to innovation and more efficiency.
“We’re going to have insurance for everybody”, President Trump said in January.