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A jubilant Donald Trump hailed the Republican healthcare bill which passed the House of Representatives on Thursday as a "great plan" which will give Americans reduced premiums and expanded coverage.
However, the American Health Care Act — which comes in the wake of a failed effort to "repeal and replace Obamacare" in March — must still be approved by the Senate, which is almost certain to make changes.
And questions still remain about how the "incredibly well crafted" healthcare bill passed by House Republicans will affect some of America's most vulnerable people.
The bill could pave the way for sweeping tax cuts
Mr Trump made overturning Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act a cornerstone of his 2016 campaign but was frustrated as two efforts to push a Republican bill through the House failed.
Obamacare expanded Medicaid, the US Government insurance program for the poor, provided income-based tax credits to help low-income people buy insurance on individual insurance markets, and required everyone to buy insurance or pay a penalty.
Without outlining a comprehensive policy himself, the President had promised people would receive a "massive tax cut", pay less for insurance and get better healthcare that would include being allowed to choose their doctor, a popular criticism of Obamacare.
The bill would:
- Repeal most Obamacare taxes that paid for the law
- Roll back the Medicaid expansion and slash the program's funding
- Remove the penalty for not purchasing insurance
- Replace the law's tax credits with flat, age-based credits
But there are concerns for the most vulnerable sick people
What happens to those with pre-existing conditions under the Republican plan remains unknown.
Obamacare's most popular feature was a regulation that prevented insurers from charging those with pre-existing conditions higher rates, a common practice before its implementation.
What is Obamacare?
- Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress in 2010
- Promised to help tens of millions of uninsured Americans get health coverage
- Under the plan, people can buy cheap insurance on healthcare.gov
- Most coverage costs less than $US100 per month
- Policies vary according to person's income, location, family size and level of coverage desired
- More than 10 million people now have medical cover under the laws
- Number of uninsured adults reduced by 26 per cent
It also required them to cover 10 essential health benefits such as maternity care and prescription drugs.
Concerns the new proposal would leave too many people with pre-existing medical conditions unable to afford health coverage were assuaged by a compromise proposal that would add $US8 billion over five years to help cover the cost for poor people.
But healthcare consultancy and research firm Avalere Health released analysis that the Republican bill would only cover 5 per cent of those enrolled with pre-existing conditions in the individual markets.
Nearly every major medical group was strongly opposed to the Republican bill.
They also said last-minute amendments further eroded protection for the most vulnerable groups, including the sick and elderly.
And it's unclear whether it's likely to actually expand coverage
The American Health Care Act was passed before being assessed by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which will estimate its cost and its effect on insurance rolls.
The earlier healthcare plan fell flat in the House in March after the CBO found it would cause 24 million Americans to lose coverage.
Republicans say the bill will be scored by the CBO and other fixes will be made before the Senate votes.
Republican senator Bob Corker said there was no way the healthcare bill would receive a quick vote in the Senate, and predicted senators would spend "at least a month" studying it.
AP/ABC
Topics: health, health-policy, donald-trump, world-politics, government-and-politics, health-insurance, united-states
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