On March 6, 2017, Republicans released their proposed legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
These are some of the changes the proposal is looking to implement:
- Individual mandate requiring most Americans to maintain health insurance will be eliminated and also the tax penalty imposed on those who are uninsured will be removed.
- Insurers would be allowed to impose a surcharge of 30 percent on people who have a gap in health coverage of at least 63 continuous days in the last 12 months.
- A system of tax credits would be created to incentivize people to purchase either unsubsidized COBRA insurance or insurance offered in the individual health insurance market within a state. The income-based tax credits provided under the ACA would be replaced with credits that would rise with age as people’s need for medical care generally increases as they age. The proposed tax credits would start at $2,000 a year for a person under 30 and would rise to a maximum of $4,000 for a person 60 or older. A family could receive up to $14,000 in credits.
- The proposal would repeal subsidies that the federal government currently provides to low-income individuals to assist in the payment of deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for insurance purchased through the public exchange marketplaces.
- Large employers (50 or more full-time employees) would no longer be subject to pay penalties for failing to offer healthcare coverage to full-time employees.
- The proposal does not change the most popular aspects of the ACA, including: the prohibition on insurers denying coverage to those individuals with pre-existing conditions; the provision allowing children to remain on their parent’s health insurance plans until age 26; and, the ban on lifetime coverage caps.
We will be posting more information on the changes to the Affordable Care Act and how it will affect our clients and current plans. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.