New Graham-Cassidy Draft: States With Hold-Out GOP Senators Favored, Potential Higher Costs Remain For Those With Preexisting Conditions

Late on the night of Sunday, September 25, 2017—only 72 hours before a final vote on the bill is expected–a new version of the Graham-Cassidy bill was released. Although much of the bill is the same as the draft released earlier, there are significant changes. On initial review, these seem to be aimed primarily at two purposes:

undergirding the argument of the bill’s sponsors that it does not exclude coverage for people with preexisting conditions and,
substantially increasing funding for states represented by some of the GOP Senators who have expressed concerns about the bill.

This post analyzes the non-Medicaid provisions of the new version. A post summarizing the Medicaid changes will follow.
Unchanged Provisions
The new draft provides full revised legislative language rather than specific amendments tied to the earlier draft. It is only slightly longer and retains many of the key provisions of the underlying bill. Like the earlier bill, it would:

end the Affordable Care Act’s provision that caps the amount of premium tax credit that low-income individuals must repay when they receive excess premium tax credits because their income is higher than estimated;
repeal the ACA’s premium tax credits, cost-sharing reduction payments, small business tax credits, and Medicaid expansions as of the end of 2019;
bar health insurers from receiving ACA tax credits for plans that cover abortion other than when necessary to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape ...

Source: Health Affairs Blog - September 25, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Timothy Jost Tags: Costs and Spending Featured Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage Source Type: blogs