House Republicans will unveil and vote on an ambitious healthcare plan that aims to lower healthcare costs next week, a House Republican leadership aide said Friday.
A House Republican leadership aide said that they aim to unveil a healthcare reform package next week. The Republican package would strike a contrast between the Democrat proposal, which would merely extend the enhanced premium tax credits (EPTCs) for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare. EPTCs, or enhanced Obamacare subsidies, will expire at the end of the year, making healthcare a focal point for Congress.
Democrats staged a weekslong shutdown over the expiring subsidies, aiming to gain leverage over Republicans. The minority party in Congress eventually relented, striking a deal with Republicans to have a vote in the Senate on a bill of their choice, which would extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies for three years and would cost $90 billion.
As the House will consider the Republican package, a House GOP leadership aide that there will be “process” to allow for an amendment to prevent the subsidies from lapsing. House moderates and even some vulnerable incumbents have pushed for an extension of the ACA credits.
The Republican package would allow for businesses that fund their own health plans to purchase “stop-loss” policies, which would protect the business from going bankrupt in the event of unexpected high-cost insurance claims.
The plan would contain cost-sharing reduction payments (CSRs) that would cut premiums by roughly 12 percent. CSRs were included in the House-passed version of the Big Beautiful Bill, but were taken out after the objection of Senate Democrats, believing it violated Senate rules on budgetary reconciliation.
The plan would codify Association Health Plans (AHPs), which would allow for organizations and membership-based companies such as Amazon, Costco, or Sam’s Club to establish their own health insurance plans.
Breitbart News reported:
A study from Avalere Health found that Americans would experience drastically lower health premiums through AHPs compared to Obamacare. AHPs would be roughly $2,900 lower per year compared to the small-group market and $9,700 lower per year compared to the individual market. Avalere cites that the lower average premiums in AHPs mostly result from a healthier insurance pool due to “risk selection” and less generous offerings. The Avalere research found that as many as 3.2 million Americans could leave Obamacare for AHPs.
Land O’Lakes announced in November that they created the nation’s first AHP, offering plans nearly 50 percent less expensive than Obamacare.
President Donald Trump has shared Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) idea of using AHPs as a viable alternative to Obamacare insurance plans.
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