House Republicans Pass The American Health Care Act

Vox: The House Passed The American Health Care Act, Which Would Leave “Millions Fewer People With Health Insurance.” Vox’s Sarah Kliff reported on the House’s passage of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), describing it as “a bill that would greatly reduce funding for Obamacare’s coverage programs, leaving millions fewer people with health insurance.” Kliff noted that if the AHCA becomes law, “the American health insurance system will prioritize the needs of young and healthy people more, and sicker people less.” From the May 5 article:

House Republicans have passed the American Health Care Act, a bill that would greatly reduce funding for Obamacare’s coverage programs, leaving millions fewer people with health insurance.

The bill would dramatically remake the American health care system, changing who can afford coverage in the individual market — and who will be left uninsured. It also revealed new fault lines in the Republican Congress, showing who had the power to shift the bill’s priorities and who yielded little influence.

If the bill makes it through the Senate and becomes law, Republicans will have achieved a campaign promise they’ve been making for the past seven years. Millions of Americans will lose health insurance altogether, according to CBO estimates based on an earlier version of the bill. Taxes will drop for the wealthiest Americans. And for those still buying individual plans, the American health insurance system will prioritize the needs of young and healthy people more, and sicker people less. [Vox, 5/5/17]

Georgia Republican Congressional Candidate Karen Handel Says She Supports The Bill

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Handel Said “She Would Support The Measure.” Republican Karen Handel, who is running to fill the vacant U.S. congressional seat in Georgia, said she would support the AHCA, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which reported that Handel signaled “last week that she was ‘extremely troubled’ with a provision that would have exempted members of Congress from the changes,” but has since supported the bill. [The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/4/17]

Atlanta Media Highlight The Detrimental Impact The AHCA Could Have On Georgians

Fox 5’s Good Morning Atlanta: “2 Million Georgians” With Pre-Existing Conditions Fear “They Will No Longer Be Able To Afford Insurance Under Trumpcare.” Fox 5’s Aungelique Proctor pointed out that “2 million Georgians” with pre-existing conditions fear that “they will no longer be able to afford insurance under Trumpcare.” Proctor interviewed one woman who suffers from diabetes who said that under the AHCA, she may have to “close my business or move.” From the May 8 report:

ALYSE EADY (CO-HOST): Some people who live in metro Atlanta aren’t happy with the American Health Care Act. That’s the Obamacare replacement that the U.S. House passed last week. In fact, they hit the streets of Atlanta yesterday to voice their concerns about it. Fox 5’s Aungelique Proctor was there.

AUNGELIQUE PROCTOR: Georgians who rallied here against the American Health Care Act say the bill targets not only the poor and the disabled, but thousands of people with pre-existing conditions. These metro Atlantans are outraged by the American Health Care Act the U.S. House passed Thursday. They say affordable health care is not a partisan issue and touches all Georgians. Stacie Boschma is a Type 1 diabetic with an external pancreas. Her pre-existing condition leaves her and 2 million Georgians fearing they will no longer be able to afford insurance under Trumpcare.

STACIE BOSCHMA: I pay somewhere around $10,000 a year in health care costs. Without insurance, that bumps up to somewhere around $17,000. I think the next governor is going to waive us out and I will have to close my business or move.

WOMAN: As a breast cancer survivor, as a mother of a child [covered by the Affordable Care Act], we are here to let Congress know and let the Senate know that we will not stand for a loss of benefits for the people.

PROCTOR: This rally was organized in less than 48 hours. The group says the bill strips 24 million Americans of health care, which could have deadly results.

WOMAN TWO: Households should be rising up all over this country. Alarm bells should be ringing in every kitchen all over this country. This is a horrible bill for women. This makes things like rape and domestic violence a pre-existing condition. [Fox 5, Good Morning Atlanta, 5/8/17]

NBC 11’s 11Alive News: Protesters Say AHCA “Would Give Large Tax Cuts To The Wealthiest While Making Health Care Nearly Unaffordable For Those Who Need It.” NBC 11’s Joe Henke covered a rally where, he reported, protesters said the bill “would give large tax cuts to the wealthiest while making health care nearly unaffordable for those who need it the most, mainly the sick, elderly, and poor.” From the May 7 report:

JOE HENKE: One of the main arguments heard at today’s rally against the American Health Care Act is that it would give large tax cuts to the wealthiest while making health care nearly unaffordable for those who need it the most, mainly the sick, elderly, and poor. But Republicans say it would actually give people more choices when it comes to their health care coverage.

Outside St. Mark’s United Methodist Church --

WOMAN: We cannot allow this to happen.

HENKE: A crowd gathered after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The message today is for Georgia’s senators.

MAN: They need to think about how this is going to affect Georgia.

HENKE: The House’s bill would allow states to opt out of rules stopping insurance companies from raising rates on people with pre-existing conditions. Secretary Tom Price on Meet the Press called the bill a better way of covering people with pre-existing conditions.

[BEGIN VIDEO]

TOM PRICE: We want to make certain that we can do it at a lower price and broader choices for patients, so that, again, they’re able to see the doctor that they want to see. They’re able to go to the hospital that they want to go to.

[END VIDEO]

HENKE: Janel Green organized today’s rally and says the House’s bill makes insurance too expensive for millions.

JANEL GREEN: It will make it impossible for people to shop for care, to know that their health care is going to be covered when they need it, and be able to know that it’s not junk health care.

HENKE: But Price says under Obamacare, many already face rising deductibles and premiums.

[BEGIN VIDEO]

PRICE: They’re in an area in this country where there is either one insurer offering coverage, or in some places none. Those are folks that have pre-existing illnesses and injuries and can’t get any care at all. They may have an insurance card, but they can’t get care.

[END VIDEO]

HENKE: Rally attendees with pre-existing conditions, though, want Obamacare to be tweaked, not replaced.

STACIE BOSCHMA: What I would like to see the Senate do is look at what’s wrong with the ACA. And there’s plenty wrong with it. And fix that. And then send that back to the House and tell them to be responsible and to govern responsibly and to be more generous with subsidies. [NBC 11, 11Alive News, 5/7/17]

WSB-TV 2: “Rural Georgia” Would Suffer From The AHCA “Because There Could Be Less Care Available.” WSB-TV 2’s Dave Huddleston pointed out that “people in rural Georgia” would suffer under the AHCA “because there could be less care available.” Huddleston also interviewed a local professor in health administration, Bill Custer, who pointed out that “older and sicker Georgians would end up paying more or not having access at all” under the law. From the May 5 report:

DAVE HUDDLESTON: Jovita, whether Georgians are dealing with sick children at the hospital or Georgians that are just having children, those are some of the people that could be impacted by this health care bill. We talked to an expert about the winners and losers for Georgia.

Ernel Dawkins says he’s worried the American Health Care Act will leave millions of families without coverage, especially those with pre-existing conditions.

ERNEL DAWKINS: Just about everybody out here has something going on. So, with pre-existing conditions, yeah, definitely, I’m concerned about it.

HUDDLESTON: President Trump and Republican lawmakers gathered Thursday at the White House Rose Garden to celebrate passage of the bill in the U.S. House. But a local expert on health administration says that’s a little premature.

BILL CUSTER: It’s like celebrating being ahead at the end of the first quarter.

HUDDLESTON: Georgia State University’s professor Bill Custer says not many people, including the lawmakers who voted on the bill, know much about it. But he said the winners will be upper-income healthy people.

CUSTER: It’s clear that older, sicker Georgians would end up paying more or not having access at all.

HUDDLESTON: He says people in rural Georgia will also suffer because there could be less health care available.

Those pre-existing conditions, Custer says, arthritis, diabetes, and sleep apnea could be on the list, including pregnancy.

CUSTER: Women of childbearing years would pay more under this law than they do now. [WSB-TV 2, Nightbeat, 5/5/17]

WABE Interview Noted That “700,000 Georgians Would Lose Coverage” Under The AHCA. In an interview on WABE’s Morning Edition, Georgia Health News’ Andy Miller explained that under the original version of the AHCA, “700,000 Georgians would lose coverage over the next 10 years.” Additionally, insurers could “offer … skinny plans” that don’t cover essential health benefits, such as maternity care and prescription drugs. From the May 5 interview:

DENIS O’HAYER (HOST): One of the other concerns was that there would be a lot of people in Georgia who currently have coverage under Obamacare -- even though some of them are paying quite a bit for it, they would end up with no coverage. And those estimates were in the hundreds of thousands, again under the previous Republican bill. Is it possible, even now, to look at this bill and say what the effect would be when it comes to uninsured folks?

ANDY MILLER: Well, it hasn’t been scored yet by the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, but Bill Custer of Georgia State [University] estimates from the previous bill, the original bill, it would be 700,000 Georgians would lose coverage over the next 10 years. And that was based on the CBO’s estimate that 24 million Americans would lose coverage under this.

[...]

This bill will allow states to get a waiver from the federal government and basically establish their own insurance rules. Whether it’s in terms of the essential [health] benefits that Obamacare covers -- there’s 10 of them; they include things like maternity, prescription drugs, mental health, substance abuse treatment. And a state can pursue a waiver to be able to say, well, we don’t need all these benefits in every plan. We can allow insurers just to kind of offer these skinny plans, or plans that don’t cover all 10 benefits. [WABE, 5/5/17]

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Many Georgians With Pre-Existing Conditions “Would Face Higher Costs.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Georgians with pre-existing conditions “who buy their own coverage on the individual market would face higher costs” under the AHCA. From the May 4 report:

Under the original version of the bill, an estimated 24 million Americans would lose their health insurance coverage by 2026, according to a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The CBO, Congress’s scorekeeper, has not yet scored the bill in its latest form with the new amendments relating to pre-existing conditions and essential health benefits, and the House is expected to vote without one. The decision to let states opt out of Obamacare’s mandate that insurers can’t charge people more because of their health history would likely lead to more people losing insurance.

An estimated nearly 1.8 million Georgians have pre-existing conditions. Most of them get coverage through an employer or another source. But those who buy their own coverage on the individual market would face higher costs. [The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/4/17]