Summary & Analysis Resources for the House American Health Care Act
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. House Republicans have said they hope to pass their ObamaCare Repeal & Replace legislation as early as next week and avoid the pitfalls that beset the
Obama Administration which took more than a year to pass the Affordable Care Act.
On March 6 2017
the Houses Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and
House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (right R-TX) introduced legislation The American Health Care Act (AHACA) that would repeal and replace many of the provisions from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that govern the private health insurance market and state Medicaid programs in the U.S.
Cited as a first step in the process to move the nations health system away from the one created under the ACA the AHCA contains provisions focusing on:
- Market Reforms
- Implementing changes to the funding mechanism for State Medicaid Programs and
- Proposing allotments to states to support the transitional period as the health system moves from the ACA.
Of great importance to the states federal funding for the Medicaid program would be altered by establishing a per capita cap block grant program with the amounts based on five groups:
- Children
- the Elderly
- Blind & Disabled Persons
- Pregnant Women and Parents and
- Working adults (the Medicaid expansion population)
It establishes expenditure targets along with penalties for exceeding those targets. The ACA Medicaid is not repealed but the bill would alter the federal funding to states to support the expansion population.
The House Energy & Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over the provisions governing Medicaid and operational aspects of the health insurance market and addressed those specific issues in its markup.
The House Committee on Ways & Means has jurisdiction over the tax provisions and addressed those sections of the legislation in its markup.
The measure will now be considered by the House Budget Committee.
Congressional Resources
House Republican Leaders Release Draft Repeal and Replace Plan
At his weekly press briefing on Feb. 16 2017 House Speaker Paul Ryan released the Houses plan for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The Proposal
The proposal document which incorporates many concepts from 2016 House Republicans proposal called A Better Way lays out specific goals of their plan that the repeal and replace legislation hopes to achieve including:
- Modernizing the Medicaid program to allow states to innovate with plan designs that will best meet their needs
- Utilizing state innovation grants to enable states to strengthen and improve their health insurance marketplaces and provide for populations with greater needs.
- Enhancing and expanding the use of health savings accounts (HSA) by increasing the amount of money an individual or family may contribute; allowing funds in the HSA to be used to purchase over-the-counter health care items; allowing spouses to make additional contributions; and expanding the amount of time HSA funds may be used on certain expenses.
Providing
access to a portable monthly tax credit to buy a health insurance plan that is unrelated to an employment or government program plan. The proposal is based on age so as individuals health needs evolve over time so will their monthly portable tax credit. The credit would be portable so that it stays with an individual from job to job state to state stays home to start a business or raise a family and used in retirement.
Additional Resources
