American Health Care Act: Key Provisions and Implications, May 2017 Update
In March 2017, House Republicans unveiled the American Health Care Act (AHCA), their proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). On May 4, the U.S. House of Representatives passed AHCA by a vote of 217-213. On March 13, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office projected that under AHCA (as introduced), 14 million Americans would lose their health insurance in 2018, with the number of uninsured rising to 24 million by 2026. The Congressional Budget Office will be updating their score of this legislation to account for several amendments that were adopted in the House-passed version of the bill.
The following table summarizes key AHCA provisions. It lists the provision, the details of the American Health Care Act, and who is primarily affected. The provisions reviewed are:
- Replace the ACA’s individual mandate with a continuous coverage requirements
- Change Tax Credits from those based on income and premium cost in the ACA to based on age and allow tax credits to be used on or off Exchange
- Repeal Cost-Sharing Reduction Subsidies
- Widen Age Rating Bands
- Freeze Medicaid Expansion
- Shift Medicaid f rom funding based on the cost of coverage to Per-Capita limit or block grant
- State Waivers
- Patient and State Stability Fund