Republicans are making an already bad plan worse by allowing states to take away the promise that health insurance plans will actually provide health coverage. Their actions would undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions and means that women could be charged more for health insurance than men. Republicans aren’t waiting for the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to tell the American people how TrumpCare is a disaster, but instead appear to be pushing ahead without a score. Without a CBO score, Americans won’t know just how bad TrumpCare could be for them.
Republicans should not vote on TrumpCare until Americans have answers to the questions below:
1) How many more Americans will be uninsured given the MacArthur Amendment allowing states to take away essential health protections? How many people will no longer be able to afford coverage?
2) How much will the MacArthur Amendment cost the government, given that more people will be likely to use their tax credits to buy substandard health insurance?
3) How will the MacArthur Amendment affect premiums? CBO’s past analysis looked at premiums without accounting for changes in who was buying insurance. After accounting for those changes how much will premiums go up?
4) Will deductibles increase more under the MacArthur Amendment?
5) Will shopping for health insurance become more difficult for Americans if essential health benefits are taken away?
6) How will undermining essential health benefits increase costs for women?
7) How will the MacArthur Amendment affect health insurance access for those with pre-existing conditions? And how about the impact on premiums?
Click here to read @JECDems tweets to @USCBO about the cost and impact of TrumpCare.
