County residents would see bigger support under new plan

Star Beacon (Ashtabula, OH)

March 10--Though many enrolled in federal health insurance plans can expect to see their tax credits plummet under the Republicans'

proposed American Health Care Act, most age and income demographics in Ashtabula County will get a bigger break, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.

Republicans' plan replaces the Affordable Care Act's subsidies with refundable tax credits, now based on age rather than income and in flat brackets -- $2,000 at age 27; $3,000 at age 40; and $4,000 at age 60 -- with the size of credit being reduced starting at the $75,000 annual income level.

In Ashtabula County, many will get more in tax credits. Many enrollees making between $40,000 and $100,000 would get a credit they didn't under the Affordable Care Act. Older and lower-income county residents, however, will see their tax credits drop off.

A 27-year-old making $30,000 has a $450 tax credit under the Affordable Care Act, but would have $2,000 tax credit under Republicans' plan.

A 60-year-old bringing in $20,000, however, faces a $2,600 cut down, going from $6,600 under the ACA to $4,000. However, the proposed tax credit for 60-year-olds under the new plan again swings positive at the $40,000 income level, starting with about $500 more in tax credits than the ACA.

The average annual per capita income in Ashtabula County was about $20,300 from 2011 to 2015, according to U.S. Census estimates. The median household income was about $40,500.

"Generally, people who are older, lower-income or live in high-premium areas receive larger tax credits under the ACA than they would under the American Health Care Act replacement," according to the Kaiser analysis. "Conversely, some people who are younger, higher-income or live in low-premium areas may receive larger assistance under the replacement plan."

Ohio's insurance premiums are low, compared to elsewhere in the nation -- and states with now-soaring costs like Arizona and

Minnesota -- said Joey Giangola, an independent health insurance broker with Giangola Insurance in Ashtabula, adding the county's premium rates are in-line with its southern neighbors.

He said he feels neither the Affordable Care Act nor the new Republican proposal will tackle the underlying cause of ever-rising premiums. Since calculating a rate for himself on Healthcare.gov the day the marketplace opened, that premium more than tripled, he said.

"The subsidies -- they're a great idea. But what I've said for a long time is you can't lower the cost of health insurance permanently until you lower the cost of what it's trying to insure," he said. "There's very little you can do to push those numbers around. They're artificially making it affordable.

"Nobody's really looking to solve the actual problem ... we keep tossing tax credits at it."

After skimming an analysis of the proposal, Giangola said it appears the replacement plan will allow insurers to charge older enrollees more. Under the Affordable Care Act, they couldn't be charged more than three times as much as younger enrollees, but he estimated it could end up at five times as much under the Republicans' plan.

"Yeah, an older person's going to be charged more, but they're using more," he said.

Regardless, if no one addressed the Affordable Care Act, Giangola said he feels it would have "blown up on its own, in a year or two, anyways."

He said Giangola brokers have talked about preparing to help concerned policyholders should the proposed American Health Care Act pass and take effect in "turmoil." The company's YouTube channel, YouTube.com/user/GiangolaInsurance, hosts a number of informational videos about changes in the state's insurance marketplace and how to make better enrollment choices.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said in a recent statement Ohioans have called him "terrified" about losing their current health plans.

"This plan will raise prices for Ohioans -- particularly older Ohioans -- and kick people off of the coverage they have today. It will threaten jobs across our state by cutting funding for local hospitals that employ hundreds of thousands of Ohioans," he said in a release.

"This plan does nothing to lower healthcare costs for Ohioans, but hands a huge tax break to drug companies and insurance executives who jack up their prices."

During a telephone town hall about a week before the replacement plan's reveal, Republican 14th District Congressman David Joyce said he had "serious concerns." In funding the American Health Care Act, the tax-free status of employer-based health plans -- which cover about half of U.S. workers -- would be reduced.

"We are still reviewing and digesting the plan to see how it impacts our constituents," Dino DiSanto, Joyce's chief of staff, said Thursday. "We are urging all our constituents to go to ReadtheBill.GOP and provide us their feedback at Joyce.House.gov."

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