CBO released estimate of the impact of the American Health Care Act
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today released an analysis, also know as a score, of the American Health Care Act passed earlier this month by the House and currently under consideration in the Senate. CBO estimates this bill will result in 23 million fewer people with health insurance over 10 years and would reduce the deficit by $119 billion over 10 years, mainly a result of cuts to the Medicaid program.
The CBO determined that the controversial amendment that would allow states to waive certain regulations about what insurance plans must cover and would allow states to charge people more based on their health status would result in slightly slower premiums in some locations as a result of people purchasing plans that covered fewer services but would result in some people with pre-existing conditions to lose coverage because they could not afford the premiums, even with the funding provided by the bill to mitigate these premium increases.
The National Rural Health Association does not support the AHCA and has called on members of Congress to vote no on this legislation. While many provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are not working in rural America, the AHCA does not address the problems and instead provides coverage for fewer rural Americans leading to poorer rural health outcomes and an increase in the rural hospital closure crisis.
NRHA continues to meet with members of the Senate to express concerns about the AHCA, and NRHA has activated its grassroots to urge Congress to vote no on the AHCA.