MSNBC’s Ali Velshi summed up the problem with the GOP’s Obamacare replacement plan succinctly: The winners are the young, the wealthy, and insurance companies. The losers are the elderly, poor, and sick. That seems like the opposite of what would be morally just – and smart policy – for the wealthiest nation on earth. Instead, the healthiest and wealthiest benefit while the sickest and most vulnerable suffer under this new plan. Our nation’s seniors, in particular, will fare significantly worse if the American Health Care Act (as it’s benignly named) becomes law, because it weakens Medicare and radically restructures Medicaid – two of the most important federal programs for the elderly. Meanwhile, the bill gives the wealthy a $600 billion tax cut over ten years.
Here are some of the most harmful facets of the GOP plan affecting seniors:
*Imposes “per capita” caps on Medicaid payments to the states after 2020, amounting to a $370 billion funding cut over 10 years. This will likely compel states to cut benefits to seniors who rely on Medicaid to pay for skilled nursing and long-term care. Standard & Poor’s estimates that 4-6 million beneficiaries will lose Medicaid coverage altogether.
*Rolls back insurance premium support for Americans in their 50s and 60s, putting their health and wellness at risk in the crucial years before they are eligible for Medicare.
*Allows insurance companies to charge older Americans up to five times more than younger enrollees, putting health coverage out of reach for millions of middle-aged Americans and younger seniors.
*Repeals a tax on wealthy Americans that was helping to keep Medicare solvent. Eliminating those taxes on high earners will reduce the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund by at least 4 years.
The Republican plan replaces Obamacare’s health insurance subsidies with tax credits that will barely make a dent in older Americans’ premiums. Individuals between the ages of 50 to 59 would receive a tax credit of $3,500 per year; Anyone over 60 would receive a meager $4,000 per year. What’s more, the tax credits are phased out for individuals earning over $75,000 annually or $150,000 jointly. Given that healthcare premiums for a 64 year-old are projected to climb to $13,125 per year under the GOP plan, these tax credits will fall pathetically short.
Even with the tax credits, fresh analyses indicate that Americans’ out-of-pocket healthcare costs will rise under the GOP plan. In its blog, The Big Idea, today Vox concludes:
“Once the differences in tax credits are accounted for, the bill would increase costs significantly. [Higher] cost-sharing would greatly increase financial risk. If you’re now paying 50 percent of your costs, instead of 75%, a big hospital bill could be devastating.” – Vox’s The Big Idea
For all the Republicans’ griping about Obamacare premiums being too expensive, Vox estimates the average policyholders’ out-of-pocket costs will increase by $1,542 per year even if their premiums go down.
Returning to Ali Velshi’s summary of winners and losers, one can see a resemblance between the way the GOP plan health pits the young against the old, the wealthy against the less fortunate, and the healthy against the sick… and the tactics they employ in attempting to cut Social Security and Medicare. The trouble is that eventually everyone will grow old, and at some point in our lives we all will be sick. Everyone – young and old – needs affordable health care. In replacing Obamacare with this newer, more miserly plan, millions of Americans will not be able to afford the healthcare they need.