No Wonder There’s a Delay: New Analyses Show The House Bill Is Worse Than You Thought

The vote that was scheduled for today on the House GOP proposal that would rollback coverage under Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and the broader individual insurance market has been delayed, but is now scheduled to take place tomorrow, Friday. The surprise is not the delay, but that they are still considering this disastrous bill at all, given it is opposed by doctor, hospital, patient and senior groups, health policy experts across the political spectrum, strong majorities of the public in every poll, a bipartisan group of Governors and Senators, and a growing number of House Republicans. No member of Congress should vote for a bill that rolls back coverage for millions and raises cost-sharing for consumers like this one does.

Congress is rushing to vote on their health plan because it’s clear that as more analysis is done, the more Americans find out how bad it is. New analyses show that the AHCA bill (also known as Trumpcare) actually has a worse impact. The new analysis by the independent Congressional Budget Office suggests that the bill isn’t getting better, and it’s in fact getting worse with the “manager’s amendments,” still leaving 24 million Americans uninsured, while also reducing deficit savings and weakening coverage for many more.

New estimates released yesterday by the California Department of Health Care Services and the University of California at Berkeley show the devastating fiscal impacts of the proposed American Health Care Act. This health bill will not only lead to 24 million more uninsured, including 4-5 million more in California, but would also be a multi-billion dollar blow to our state budget. By imposing caps and cuts onto the full Medi-Cal program, which covers 14 million Californians, this bill will dramatically hurt the hospitals and health system we all rely on. The level of cuts forced by this Congressional proposal would be beyond anything we had to contend with even in the depths of the recent recession. The AHCA would blow a massive $24 billion hole in Medi-Cal and our state budget, putting at risk every program in California. The scale of this cut is the equivalent of how much the state spends on higher education and corrections–combined.

Just to maintain existing coverage levels in Medi-Cal under this GOP proposal, California would have to raise taxes by billions. This proposal breaks a 50-year agreement between the state and federal government about sharing the cost of care, and shifts that burden onto states and citizens.”

Resources:

  • California DHCS Estimates Increased Costs to Medi-Cal and #CABudget of $6 Billion in 2020, $24 Billion by 2027
  • UC Berkeley Estimates California Would Need to Raise $10 Billion in Taxes To Keep Medi-Cal Expansion for 3.7 Million
  • Health Access Fact Sheet on AHCA Details Impacts to Medi-Cal Eligibility Processes, California’s Individual Market
  • Listen to Tuesday’s Press Call With California Experts/Consumer Advocates on California Impacts: (800)475-6701 Access Code: 421043