As you may be aware, the Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is being pushed through Congress as a budget resolution, meaning it only needs a simple majority in the Senate (as opposed to 60 votes) to pass. However, budget resolutions are also very limited in what they can do, and today the Senate Parliamentarian issued her opinion that several key measures of the Senate replacement bill go beyond the scope of what’s allowed. [More]
obamacare
What Is Going On With The GOP Effort To Repeal Obamacare?
By 7.20.17
The Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has been dealt a number of potentially lethal blows in recent days, but some supporters of the effort — including President Trump — continue to push their colleagues to move forward with repeal. Will a vote happen? Will it succeed? And how does the news of Sen. John McCain’s brain tumor affect the numbers? [More]
Budget Office: Repeal Of Obamacare Would Double Premiums, Leave Additional 32 Million Without Insurance
By 7.19.17
Though it was effectively declared dead on arrival earlier this week, the latest Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act is still technically on life support, with President Trump pushing for lawmakers to continue working on the measure. However, the Congressional Budget Office has once again confirmed that simply repealing Obamacare without a replacement would result in a huge number of additional Americans losing or going without health insurance, and significantly higher costs for those who remained on their policies. [More]
Trump, GOP Senators Suggest Simply Repealing Obamacare Without Replacement
By 6.30.17
With Republican lawmakers unable to reach a consensus on how to replace the Affordable Care Act, President Trump and some influential senators are now calling for a straightforward repeal of the law, with any replacement to come at some later date. [More]
Budget Office: Long-Term Medicaid Spending Would Drop 35% Under Obamacare Repeal Plan
By 6.29.17
As we mentioned in our coverage of the Congressional Budget Office’s review of the Senate proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the ten-year focus of the CBO analysis could not fully illustrate the impact of Medicaid cuts that wouldn’t come until the latter half of that decade. Today, the CBO released a separate report that estimates what effect those cuts might have ten to twenty years from now. [More]
GOP Might Not Include $172 Billion Tax Cut In Obamacare Repeal Plan
By 6.29.17
Though Senate leadership recently decided to delay a vote on its plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the GOP is still hoping to get the details of that bill ironed out before the holiday. One possible change involves a controversial tax on the wealthy that has long been a target of repeal advocates. [More]
Senate Delays Vote On Obamacare Repeal Bill Until After July 4 Recess
By 6.27.17
Multiple reports are claiming that Senate Republican leadership has decided to delay the vote on a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care, following a Congressional Budget Office review estimating that 22 million additional Americans will be without healthcare if the bill passes as it is. [More]
Senate Obamacare Repeal Plan Would Leave 22 Million Without Insurance
By 6.26.17
In news that will likely change the way some lawmakers view the Senate’s proposal to gut and replace much of the Affordable Care Act, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that this latest effort would ultimately leave 22 million Americans without insurance on top of those who would be uninsured under the current law, while trimming $321 billion from the federal deficit over ten years. [More]
GOP Revises Obamacare Repeal Bill, Adds 6-Month Penalty For People With Lapsed Coverage
By 6.26.17
One of the Republican party’s biggest complaints about the Affordable Care Act is that it requires most individuals to have some sort of health insurance or pay a penalty. The draft Senate bill released last week gets rid of that financial penalty, but a newly released revised version of that bill replaces it with a waiting period of up to six months for people who are uninsured or let their coverage lapse. [More]
Hospital Groups, Public Health Officials: Senate Obamacare Repeal Bill Makes “Unsustainable” Cuts To Coverage
By 6.23.17
After reviewing the Senate bill to gut and replace much of the Affordable Care Act, groups representing the nation’s hospitals believe that this legislation will leave millions — particularly those with chronic ailments and the disabled — without access to care. [More]
From Damning To Noncommittal To All-In: The Rainbow Of Reactions To Senate Obamacare Repeal Plan
By 6.22.17
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has finally pulled back the curtain on his much-awaited and mystery-shrouded plan to repeal and replace much of the Affordable Care Act, and now that people — including some who were supposedly involved in its crafting — are seeing the proposal, the bill is being met with a wide range of reactions and lots of questions about whether the GOP will have the votes to pass it. [More]
What You Need To Know About Senate Bill To Repeal, Replace Obamacare
By 6.22.17
After weeks of secrecy, Senate Republican leaders have finally released a draft version of the budget resolution they intend to use to repeal and replace much of the Affordable Care Act. [More]
CBO: House Obamacare Repeal Plan Leaves 23 Million More Without Insurance; Higher Out-Of-Pocket Costs
By 5.24.17
Nearly three weeks after the House of Representatives narrowly passed the American Health Care Act — a budget resolution intended to repeal and replace much of the Affordable Care Act — the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is estimating that this latest version of the GOP plan will still leave 23 million additional people without insurance, and result in policies that will drive up your out-of-pocket expenses. [More]
15 States Go To Court Against Congress In Effort To Save Obamacare Subsidies
By 5.18.17
Three years ago, the House of Representatives sued then Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell in an attempt to end an Affordable Care Act provision that providers federal payments to insurance companies to reduce policyholders’ out-of-pocket costs like co-payments and deductibles. That lawsuit is still being sorted out by a federal appeals court, but with a new White House and HHS Secretary publicly committed to ending these payments, attorneys general from 15 states and the District of Columbia are attempting to step in. [More]
Senate Obamacare Repeal Bill May Result In Millions More Losing Insurance; Loss Of Additional Protections
By 5.11.17 — Updated: 5.14.17
When the House passed its version of the American Health Care Act — the budget resolution intended to gut much the 2010 Affordable Care act or “Obamacare” — many, including some Republicans who decided to give their support to the bill at the last minute, assumed that the Senate would address some of its perceived shortcomings: too many people being priced out of coverage, loss of essential health benefits. However, if some in the Senate get their way, the version it votes on could see millions more people without insurance. [More]
We Won’t Get Estimate On Cost Of Obamacare Repeal Bill Until At Least May 22
By 5.10.17
It’s already been nearly a week since the House of Representatives narrowly approved a controversial budget resolution that guts much of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, and we still don’t have any estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office of what this massive change to the insurance system might cost. Now the CBO says it may be another two weeks until we get that estimate. [More]
Obamacare Repeal Could Also Mean More Out-Of-Pocket Costs For Americans With Employer-Sponsored Plans
By 5.4.17
Many people watching the debate about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act have shrugged off many of the concerns — higher costs for people with pre-existing conditions, loss of essential health benefits — because they get their insurance through an employer-sponsored group health plan. However, a provision in the Republican repeal legislation could allow could result in changes to out-of-pocket costs for Americans in these plans. [More]
House To Vote On Obamacare Repeal That Could Leave Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions Without Coverage
By 5.3.17
UPDATE: Both the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal are now reporting that the House is indeed planning to vote on the repeal measure Thursday. [More]
