The measure would also provide states with $100 billion to create programs for patient populations, possibly including high-risk pools to provide insurance to the sickest patients.
‘Frankly Not Enough’
The overall cost of the Republican plan, a key issue in a time of high federal deficits, was not yet known, Republican aides said. Two House committees will next review the plan.
Craig Garthwaite of Northwestern University said the proposed tax credits, which would range from $2,000 to $4,000, were “frankly not enough for a low-income person to afford insurance.”
Republicans said the legislation would give Americans the flexibility to make their own healthcare choices, free of Obamacare’s mandate that people buy health insurance and the law’s taxes, including a surtax on investment income earned by upper-income Americans.
“Our legislation transfers power from Washington back to the American people,” House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady said in a statement.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement, however, that “Trumpcare doesn’t replace the Affordable Care Act, it forces millions of Americans to pay more for less care.”
“Paying for all this is going to be a big issue,” said Joe Antos of the American Enterprise Institute think tank.
“It’s possible that CBO [the Congressional Budget Office] is going to say the Medicaid reductions aren’t enough to offset the revenue losses from repealing all the taxes.”
A hospital group voiced disappointment that lawmakers were willing to consider the measure without knowing how much it cost or how it might affect healthcare coverage.
The proposal “could place a heavy burden on the safety net by reducing federal support for Medicaid expansion over time and imposing per-capita caps on the program,” said America’s Essential Hospitals, which represents hospitals that provide care to low-income and uninsured individuals.