Following a familiar script, House Republicans today introduced a budget bill for fiscal 2016 that would repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), partially privatize Medicare, turn Medicaid into a block-grant program for states, and produce a $13 billion budget surplus in 2024.
The script dates back to 2011, when the House Budget Committee, then chaired by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), first proposed this package of measures. Even if the House and Senate, both controlled by the GOP, were to approve them, President Barack Obama would likely use his veto pen.
Under the plan released today by the House Budget Committee, Medicare would shift to a "premium support" model beginning in 2024 for new enrollees — in other words, Americans born in 1959 and thereafter. Seniors would choose between traditional Medicare or a private health plan, with the
government paying a fixed premium subsidy to either. The subsidy may or may not cover the entire premium, depending on the plan. Subsidies would be higher for seniors with worsening medical conditions and lower for wealthier beneficiaries. Low-income individuals would receive financial help to cover out-of-pocket expenses.
Medicaid, a federal program administered on the state level and funded mostly with federal dollars, would take a decidedly state turn under the GOP proposal. Each state would receive a Medicaid block grant from the federal government that is less than what it would ordinarily receive, according to several analyses, along with more discretion in how to spend the money.
The budget proposal erases the ACA entirely from the books, "including all of the tax increases, regulations, subsidies, and mandates," according to a summary from the House Budget Committee. It purports to strengthen Medicare by ending "the over $700 billion Obamacare raid" on this program. The proposal does not offer any specific replacement for the ACA but instead calls for "starting over with a patient-centered approach to healthcare reform" that stresses freedom of choice and a smaller role for the federal government.
The legislation contains a clause that would ...
Read More >>>
No comments:
Post a Comment