AMAC Broker Services ACA UPDATE

The American Health Care Act (AHCA), supported by President Donald Trump, has faced opposition from both democrats and conservatives alike.  A planned vote last Thursday – the 7^th anniversary of the passage of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA for short) – was pulled by House Speaker Paul Ryan, when it was determined that it lacked the support needed to pass.

The AHCA would repeal and replace the ACA, nicknamed Obamacare, which was put into place during the Obama administration. The repeal was a priority of most Republicans in the last election, whose support came from Americans who are frustrated over the lack of health care options and the rising cost of health insurance.

The concern

The concern from the mainstream GOP is that the AHCA does not make enough of a dent in unpopular parts of the ACA, while democrats argue that the repeal and replace could leave many Americans without health insurance. Each side of the aisle has suffered ramifications over the haphazard roll-out of the ACA and the resulting failure of many state exchanges. Republicans themselves are torn over the definition of what “repeal and replace” actually looks like, and members of the House Freedom Caucus haven’t provided a cohesive enough plan to appease the naysayers.

The health plan itself may not be the problem. The American public is weary of debates over health-care issues. They want only one thing; affordable and accessible health care, and despite Clinton’s defeat in November, the GOP has failed to appeal to the masses when it comes to healthcare.

Tax issues

The swift repeal and replace was supposed to culminate in more than $880 billion in new tax cuts within the next 10 years. These tax plans are now stalled while the party struggles to regroup.

Medicaid

The AHCA included a phase-out of the Medicaid expansion mandated by Obamacare. Since more than 11 million people were added since the inception of Obamacare in 2010, most states are looking at their options, with Democrats rallying for expansion.

What’s next?

Although Paul Ryan’s press conference last week may have appeared to indicate a GOP pull-back against the fight to repeal and replace Obamacare, House Republicans met on Tuesday to discuss moving forward with the repeal and replace agenda.

President Trump’s first executive order signed in January directed governmental agencies to stop enforcing financially-burdensome provisions of the law. The ACA may self-implode if Republicans don’t attend to the regulatory issues needed to maintain the it.