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Beth Utton: ACA — repeal or fix?

But the guide also offers new insight into House Republicans’ vision for the law, such as an apparent decision to phase out the Medicaid expansion under ACA that covered millions of low-income Americans. This would help level the playing field among states since those that didn’t expand Medicaid were getting less help from Washington D.C.to care for these folks. Republicans have said they would like to change these rules but because they don’t directly affect the budget and therefore can’t be passed as part of budgeting. Presidents Day is on Monday and the House returns on February 27. “You might not be able to get coverage at all, especially if you’re an older worker”, said Rep. Richard Neal, House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member from MA.

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Actually, they never truly went away, even though they aren’t considered a qualified health insurance option under the ACA. Either Trump and Congress will disassemble the law in pieces, without giving much thought to how the whole complex health care organism fits together.

We need to rescue people from this collapsing law, and we need to replace it with a true patient-centered system.

The Republican proposal would also create a “portable”, age-based monthly tax credit for use in purchasing health insurance. If Republicans get rid of this individual mandate, they’ll have to find some other way to afford the costs of insuring those with pre-existing conditions. With repeal likely, the Obamacare defense has likely lost its appeal for juries considering the appropriate values of life care plans.

They’re also flying blind on what the White House may or may not want here.

– making it clear that people with pre-existing medical conditions can’t be turned down for insurance, including cancer and heart patients and victims of domestic violence. It calls for the limits on HSA savings to rise from $6,750 per family to $13,100. It will be critical for all of us to stay in the conversation over the coming months to let our state and national legislators know that affordable access to health care for all of us is a top priority. The Republicans tout that their plans will provide universal access to health care. It would repeal the Medicaid expansion that most states adopted under the Affordable Care Act, which allowed able-bodied people with incomes just above the poverty line to become eligible for Medicaid coverage. Union groups and health advocates kept up pressure on Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, to not support dismantling the federal health program unless there’s a new plan that protects consumers and covers more people. Right now plans are rated in terms of what proportion of the costs a customer pays.

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California, with its massive population and its competition among insurance providers, has its own state exchange and doesn’t use the federal marketplace.

What's the future of health care after Obamacare?