American Health Care Act: Key Provisions and Implications, June 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 May 24, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office projected that under the House-passed version of AHCA, 14 million more Americans would be uninsured in 2018 than under current law, with the number of additional uninsured rising to 23 million by 2026. In addition, CBO estimated that average individual market premiums would increase by 20% in 2018 compared to under current law, while average premiums after 2020 could decrease depending on states’ decisions to apply for several waivers proposed in AHCA.
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