Malloy: ‘Trumpcare’ Could Cost State $1 Billion A Year

March 14--Adding to a growing battle in Congress over replacing the Affordable Care Act, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's budget office Monday said repeal of the health care law could cost Connecticut more than $1 billion annually.

"This proposed law would result in a tremendous cost shift to the states once fully implemented, which could cost upward of $1 billion per year when fully implemented after 2020," said the analysis, prepared by the Office of Policy and Management, Malloy's budget office.

The largest cost to the state would be due to changes to Medicaid payments for low-income patients beginning in 2020. The Office of Policy and Management estimated that could result in a reduction of federal aid of as much as $530 million that year with the figure continuing to grow each year.

"The proposal to cap federal payments will force Connecticut and all states to either (1) pick up the costs, (2) significantly limit benefits, (3) reduce the number of people served, or (4) reduce rates to providers, while also making state vulnerable to arbitrary reductions in federal spending going forward," the agency wrote in its analysis.

Estimates from the budget office also show the state would be on the hook for $6.8 million in payments to cover a one-year loss of federal funding for Planned Parenthood, something Malloy proposed in one of his budget bills.

At Access Health CT, the state's Obamacare exchange, more than 34,000 customers will not renew coverage next year if the law takes effect, according to the analysis. And in 2020, the average subsidy for Connecticut residents buying plans on the exchange would drop from $5,171 to $3,057, according to the budget office.

"On Connecticut's health care exchange, more than 76 percent -- about 85,000 residents -- use federal subsidies or cost-sharing to help them afford insurance," Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman said in a written statement. "Reducing that assistance will make it harder for people to be able to afford insurance and health care."

Dubbing the Republican plan "Trumpcare," Malloy said it would cost more money and provide fewer benefits. Obamacare subsidies account for income, local cost of insurance and age, whereas the Republican plan bases tax credits on age alone.

On Monday the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released its analysis of the American Health Care Act and reported 14 million fewer people would be insured next year and 24 million fewer people would be insured by 2026.

"You will get worse coverage even though you'll be paying thousands more a year," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said in a written statement. "And 24 million Americans will have the insurance they count on ripped away from them."

Nick Balletto, the chairman of the state Democratic Party, ripped the plan and called on Republican legislators "to take action here in Connecticut to prevent residents across the state from losing coverage."

The American Health Care Act may have enough support to pass the House but faces a tougher challenge in the Senate, where moderate and conservative Republicans have joined Democrats in opposing the bill.

Courant staff writer Mara Lee contributed to this story.

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