First look at Senate ACA replacment expected after recess
The U.S. Senate will be on break until June 3, but Senate Republican staff are expected to spend the recess drafting its own version of a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The Washington Post reported disagreements remain on major facets of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which narrowly passed the House on May 4. Among the issues that need to be worked out are Medicaid funding and the ACA’s expansion of the program, waivers to allow states to remove the ACA’s required insurance benefits and ban on medical underwriting and how the new bill’s tax credits for buying insurance will be structured.
“I think people’s staff will start putting together some language we can look at when we return,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the second-ranking Republican. “There is no final agreement yet.”
Complicating matters was the Congressional Budget Office’s updated report on the AHCA, which said the bill would result in 23 million fewer people having insurance and could potentially destabilize the individual market in parts of the U.S.
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.