Recently we reached out to our community about concerns with the American Health Care Act (AHCA) and potential changes to healthcare.
Our community’s top concern? Loss of coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.
In late May, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyzed the potential impact of the AHCA. The results from this analysis reinforce the Coalition experts’ deep concerns about maintaining coverage for vulnerable patients.
According to this recent analysis, the AHCA could result in 23 million people — including older Americans, children, the disabled and those with pre-existing conditions — losing coverage by 2026. And if the AHCA is enacted as is, an estimated 14 million people could lose insurance coverage in the next year alone.
Here’s how the House-passed AHCA could affect you or your family:
Coverage for pre-existing conditions
- The analysis predicts that by 2020, one out of every six Americans would live in a state that elects to opt out of protections for those with pre-existing conditions. Premiums for Americans considered less healthy than average “would continue to increase rapidly,” according to this analysis.
Rising healthcare coverage costs
- If the AHCA is enacted as is, individual (non-group) premiums could increase by 20 percent in 2018.
Cuts to Medicaid coverage
- CBO estimates that the AHCA would cut Medicaid funding by $834 billion over 10 years and, in 2026, there would be 14 million fewer Medicaid enrollees.
So what’s next for healthcare changes?
The House-passed AHCA is now headed to the Senate, so there still could be significant changes to the bill before, or if, it becomes law. As the debate continues, the Coalition will continue to update you on changes to the bill and will give you a chance to speak out before any vote that could impact your healthcare coverage.
Our community will stand up to ensure that those with pre-existing conditions can afford meaningful coverage to get the care they need. We’ll speak out to ensure that millions of people across the country don’t lose access to their healthcare coverage. Join us — tell your senators to protect affordable coverage.