FOR such an important bill, it has an unusually simple name. On March 6th Republicans in the House unveiled—and President Donald Trump endorsed—the American Health Care Act (AHCA). The bill would overhaul Obamacare (full title: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), which Republicans have decried since its passage in 2010. Obamacare had two main ingredients: an expansion of Medicaid (health insurance for the poor); and a reform of the so-called “individual” health-insurance market, which serves those who are not covered through an employer. The AHCA would revamp both. Each revamp gives Republicans a political problem. Neither looks certain to work.
First, Medicaid. In compliant states, Obamacare expanded eligibility for the programme to all those earning less than 138% of the federal poverty line, or $16,400 for an individual in 2017. So far, this has boosted Medicaid’s rolls by 12m, which accounts for nearly about three-fifths of the improvement in health-insurance coverage since 2010. (Then, 16% of Americans went uninsured; today, only 8.8% do.)
The new bill would, in stages, remove federal funding for Medicaid’s...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2m3u6T1
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