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- Seen Jun 30, 2018
The Obamacare replacement being worked on in secret by Senate Republicans is now out in the open. It's very similar to the House version, as expected. Mostly it's full of cuts.
To summarize:
- Less money given to people without much money
- Costs of everything will go up
- People whose medical costs become too high can have insurance stop covering them
- Republicans are heartless bastards
Cuts Medicaid
- Medicaid is a national health insurance program for the poor
- Cuts money for expansion of Medicaid which a bunch of states have already started doing and will probably have to stop doing.
- Creates spending caps based on how much a state has already spent on Medicaid, meaning that after a few years the cuts become severly deep, about $800 billion (which was the estimate based of the House version). This is in addition to the $600 billion in cuts proposed in the budget out of the White House.
Cuts subsidies
- Under the ACA (Obamacare), subsidies - financial assistance to help cover insurance costs - were based on income, meaning that the less money you had the greater the subsidies you'd get.
- Under the Senate plan this is switched to age, forcing older people, regardless of income, to pay more.
- The amount given in subsidies is being cut across the board, meaning the cost of having insurance will go up for many people.
States would be able to apply for waivers
- On essential health benefits coverage, meaning plans would not be forced to cover things like hospitalizations, prescription drugs, emergency services, pediatric services, maternity care, addiction help, and so on.
- On annual and lifetime caps, meaning you could get cut off completely if your insurance costs "too much" after a year or over your lifetime
- Obviously not all states will opt for these waivers, but some definitely will
The preexist condition clause from Obamacare is being kept
- However it could get taken out when the Senate and House get together to merge their two bills. (America has two sides to Congress who eat come up with their own versions of laws which are usually not exactly the same so committees have to get together to make changes until the versions match. Things can and do get taken out during this process.)
- Your coverage could still be too expensive even if it does cover your preexisting condition
- Medicaid is a national health insurance program for the poor
- Cuts money for expansion of Medicaid which a bunch of states have already started doing and will probably have to stop doing.
- Creates spending caps based on how much a state has already spent on Medicaid, meaning that after a few years the cuts become severly deep, about $800 billion (which was the estimate based of the House version). This is in addition to the $600 billion in cuts proposed in the budget out of the White House.
Cuts subsidies
- Under the ACA (Obamacare), subsidies - financial assistance to help cover insurance costs - were based on income, meaning that the less money you had the greater the subsidies you'd get.
- Under the Senate plan this is switched to age, forcing older people, regardless of income, to pay more.
- The amount given in subsidies is being cut across the board, meaning the cost of having insurance will go up for many people.
States would be able to apply for waivers
- On essential health benefits coverage, meaning plans would not be forced to cover things like hospitalizations, prescription drugs, emergency services, pediatric services, maternity care, addiction help, and so on.
- On annual and lifetime caps, meaning you could get cut off completely if your insurance costs "too much" after a year or over your lifetime
- Obviously not all states will opt for these waivers, but some definitely will
The preexist condition clause from Obamacare is being kept
- However it could get taken out when the Senate and House get together to merge their two bills. (America has two sides to Congress who eat come up with their own versions of laws which are usually not exactly the same so committees have to get together to make changes until the versions match. Things can and do get taken out during this process.)
- Your coverage could still be too expensive even if it does cover your preexisting condition
To summarize:
- Less money given to people without much money
- Costs of everything will go up
- People whose medical costs become too high can have insurance stop covering them
- Republicans are heartless bastards