5 Things We Know About the American Health Care Act (AHCA)

On Thursday, May 4, the House narrowly passed the American Health Care Act, which is the latest version of the health care bill that would replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The U.S. Senate will now review the House Bill and could possibly make changes.

Here at Genesee Health Plan, we’re committed to making sure you have the latest updates regarding health care reform and how it could impact you and your family. Here are 5 key things we know:

1. Under the American Health Care Act, up to 24 million people may lose insurance coverage.

Earlier this year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stated 24 million people may lose coverage. This means that one in 5 American citizens could be uninsured by 2026, compared to the one in 10 uninsured now.

2. The American Health Care Act would eliminate tax penalties for people without health insurance.

Under the current Affordable Care Act, there is a penalty for not carrying insurance. The elimination of this penalty could result in an increase in the number of uninsured and the cost of insurance to increase, according to experts.

3. The American Health Care Act would convert Medicaid from an entitlement program to a grant program.

The federal government would give states the option to receive fixed-dollar block grants to cover health-related costs for those who qualify for Medicaid. Block grants are fixed amounts of funding that do not respond to changes in enrollment or program costs.

4. Young adults can stay on parents’ coverage until age 26 and the ban on discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions would still be in place.

These popular features of the Affordable Care Act would be retained in the proposed legislation. However, an amendment to the AHCA bill would allow states to apply for waivers that would allow them to increase how much insurers can charge based on age, establish their own requirements for essential health benefits and allow insurers to price policies based on pre-existing conditions.

5. The AHCA would cut Medicaid funding by $880 billion and could end further enrollment into the Healthy Michigan Plan in 2020.

The Healthy Michigan Plan, the name of the Medicaid Expansion in the State of Michigan, currently covers over 35,000 residents of Genesee County and over 600,000 individuals statewide.