Michigan Democrats attack Senate Republican health care proposal
"Frankly, we'd like to have a ceremony and light this on fire,"
Senate Majority Leader
Related:
The legislation eliminates the requirement that people have insurance, reins in Medicaid spending and eligibility, and cuts back insurance premium subsidies for some low- and middle-income Americans. A vote on it could come next week before the
Other portions of the bill:
* Eliminate requirements that insurers on the exchanges provide essential health benefits such as prescription drug and maternity care as of 2020.
* Allow states to put in place work requirements for Medicaid coverage for the poor and experiment with ways to contain costs while providing care.
* Keeps in place requirements to cover pre-existing conditions and let children stay on parents' policies until age 26, though if subsidies decreas,e those policies could cost people more.
Saying the ACA currently "teeters on the edge of total collapse," McConnell, R-
"American families deserve better than its failing status quo," he said.
McConnell and other supporters of the bill will first need to get enough Republican support, however. If
One of the latter,
Many
That may not be surprising, however, given the scope of the bill, the secrecy around it and the lack of time people had to digest it.
President
"While I'm still reviewing the details of the bill, it appears similar to the
"We need to fix those things that are not working (about Obamacare)," said Stabenow, claiming the Republican bill is "worse for seniors, for those in nursing homes, for children in
That's not to say the proposal doesn't have supporters: While
"We know that Obamacare is dangerously close to collapse as millions of Americans are left with fewer and fewer options for health insurance and urge senators to move forward and ultimately pass this legislation without delay," Donohue said.
Asked whether Gov.
Leading up to the House vote this spring, Snyder had urged legislators to reconsider the bill, pushing for continued support for programs such as
Healthy
Like the House bill, the proposed
As of April, there were approximately 1.8 million Michiganders receiving Medicaid coverage, which covers low-income families and individuals. Like the House bill, the
While there were similarities between the
Under the House bill, those subsidies were tied to the age of the recipient in such a way that -- when taken with other changes -- were expected to lead to much higher costs in some cases for seniors. The
It also scales back those subsidies in other ways, however, linking their amount to plans that would be less generous -- and, therefore, cost less -- and increasing the percentage of income people would be expected to spend on their own insurance, especially older Americans slightly higher on the income scale, before the subsidies would cover the difference.
Those changes could impact the more than 321,000 Michiganders who buy insurance on the ACA exchanges, the vast majority of whom -- about 260,000 -- who receive some kind of premium subsidy. While the average monthly premium of the plans they have is about
The legislation would also make numerous other changes to the current law, defunding
The bill includes
While mandates on individuals to have insurance -- and small employers to provide it -- would be lifted, children could still remain on parents' policies until age 26. It also appeared that the proposal -- which Republican leaders say is open to amendment -- maintains a ban on refusing insurance to people with preexisting conditions.
While premium increases in
In the case of
If and when the
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