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NATION Wednesday, March 8, 2017 East Oregonian Page 7A Conservative backlash threatens to sink new health bill WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful conservative backlash threatened to sink the new Repub- lican health care bill Tuesday less than 24 hours after its launch, even as President Donald Trump and congressional leaders began trying to sell the legislation as the long-promised GOP cure for “Obamacare.” “We’re going to do something that’s great and I’m proud to support the replacement plan released by the House of Representatives,” Trump declared at the White House as he met with the House GOP vote- counting team Tuesday. “We’re going to take action. There’s going to be no slowing down. There’s going to be no waiting and no more excuses by anybody.” Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence told GOP lawmakers at the Capitol this was their chance to scuttle Obama’s law, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell forecast congressional passage by early April. But major obstacles loomed as key Republican lawmakers announced their opposition, and one conservative group after another torched the plan. The Club for Growth, Heritage Action for America, Americans for Prosperity and Tea Party Patriots variously derided the new bill as Obamacare Lite, Obamacare 2.0 and even RyanCare, in a dig at House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. The new GOP plan would repeal the current law’s unpopular fines on people who don’t carry health insurance. It also would replace income-based subsidies, which the law provides to help millions of Americans pay premiums, with age-based tax credits that may be skimpier for people with low incomes. Those payments would phase out for higher-earning people. The legislation also would limit future federal funding for Medicaid, which covers low-income people, about 1 in 5 Americans. And it would loosen rules that Obama’s law imposed for health plans directly purchased by individuals. Republican supporters and opponents are all intent on reducing the role of government in health care, but some House conservatives say the new bill doesn’t go nearly far enough. For example, they are focusing on the system of refundable tax credits they denounce as a What the new health care plan means for you: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday during a meeting with the Republican House whip team about the proposed health bill. costly new entitlement. They’re demanding a vote on a straightfor- ward repeal-only bill. The concerted conservative opposition was a remarkable rebuke to legislation GOP leaders hope will fulfill seven years of promises to repeal and replace Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, pledges that played out in countless Republican campaigns for House and Senate as well as last year’s race for president. Instead, the groups that are uniting to oppose the new House legislation include many that sprang up to oppose passage of “Obamacare” in the first place. “As the bill stands today, it is Obamacare 2.0,” the billionaire Koch Brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Part- ners Chamber of Commerce said in a statement. “Millions of Americans would never see the improvements in care they were promised, just as Obamacare failed to deliver on its promises.” The new GOP plan would repeal the current law’s unpopular fines on people who don’t carry health insurance. It also would replace income-based subsidies, which the law provides to help millions of Americans pay premiums, with age-based tax credits that may be skimpier for people with low incomes. Those payments would phase out for higher-earning people. The Republican legislation would limit future federal funding for Medicaid, which covers low-income people, about 1 in 5 Americans. And it would loosen rules that Obama’s law imposed for health plans directly purchased by individuals. Republicans are pushing forward even without official estimates from the Congressional Budget Office on the cost of the bill and how many people would be covered, although GOP lawmakers acknowledge they can’t hope to match the 20 million covered under Obamacare. Democrats say the bill would leave many people uninsured, shifting costs to states and hospital systems that act as providers of last resort. The bill also adds up to big tax cuts for the rich, cutting more than 20 taxes enacted under Obama’s heath law with the bulk of the savings going to the wealthiest Americans. “This is a tax cut for the wealthy with some health insurance provi- sions tacked alongside of it,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Many conservatives are hardly happier. The new legislation is “not the Obamacare replacement plan, not the Obamacare repeal plan we’ve been hoping for. This is instead a step in the wrong direction,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said at an afternoon news conference with members of the House Freedom Caucus. Notes of caution also came from GOP governors, with Ohio Gov. John Kasich arguing that phasing out expanded Medicaid coverage without a viable alternative is “counterproductive.” Health insurance shoppers may wind up with more options to choose from but less help buying a policy under a new Republican proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act. A plan unveiled Monday in the House of Representatives shifts more responsibility for finding affordable coverage to the individual, and away from the government. But neither the government’s current plan nor the plan offered by Republicans seems capable of addressing the larger problem, the rising cost of health care that is translating into higher insurance rates. But the draft offers the first look at how Republicans want to change the government’s role in delivering health care. Here’s a look: WILL I PAY MORE FOR INSURANCE? You might, because you could receive less help from the government. The Affordable Care Act provides tax credits based on how much money you make to help take the sting out of paying for insurance. The new proposal provides tax credits that are based mainly on your age. These may offer less support for people with low incomes than the current system. On the other hand, because the new proposal allows for a broader range of insurance plans, it could mean that people may have a better chance of finding a plan they can afford. WHO WILL THIS HELP OR HURT THE MOST? Younger, healthier people may have cheaper coverage options, but costs could climb for older patients with chronic conditions and people with low incomes. The ACA provided subsidies that helped many people with chronic conditions pay out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles, the amount a person has to pay toward care before most insurance coverage starts. Those subsidies could be eliminated under the Republican plan. There’s an option for states to provide such subsidies, but it’s not yet clear how those would work. And lower-income people may struggle to pay their premiums, the amount due each month for care, because they would get less help from the government. For example, under the Republican plan, a 41-year-old customer of the insurer Molina Healthcare who earns $20,000 would receive a $3,000 tax credit toward a $4,300 annual premium for one of the company’s plans. That would leave the customer with a bill of $1,300 if there were no cheaper plan available. Under the current system, the government would cover nearly the entire cost of that plan. WILL THERE BE MORE PLANS TO CHOOSE FROM? The Republican proposal loosens restrictions on the coverage insurers can offer. That could mean a wider variety of plans, including options with lower prices. But customers would need to read closely: Plans may come with high out-of-pocket costs like deductibles or narrow networks that exclude the family doctor. The plan may also have less robust coverage of things like mental health care. Those particulars remain far from settled and will probably vary depending on state requirements. WHAT’S THE PENALTY IF I DON’T SIGN UP? The Republican plan ends the fines that people have to pay under the ACA if they don’t buy coverage, the so-called individual mandate. But there’s a catch. If people let their insurance lapse for 63 days in the year before they sign up for coverage, insurers could charge these customers 30 percent more for coverage. WILL MORE INSURERS PARTICIPATE? That depends on whether lawmakers can fix the insurance exchanges that are leading to large losses for some insurers. The Republican plan does give insurers something high on their wish list: the chance to offer a wider variety of plans, which might attract younger and healthier customers. But insurers also are worried that removing the mandate means people will only buy coverage when they are sick, and that makes it very hard for insurers to make money. MUSIC W PENDLETON® WHISKY W CAMPING W FOOD TRUCKS SATURDAY, JULY 15 B R O U G H T TO Y O U B Y: TICKETS ON SALE AT W WINE W BREW PENDLETON ROUND-UP GROUNDS MEDIA PARTNERS: Friday, March 10 • 10 a.m. W W W . P E N D L E T O N W H I S K Y M U S I C F E S T. C O M
