Washington, D.C. — Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) have released a “replacement” proposal for the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. Sen. Cassidy claims that under this plan, “if you like your insurance, you should keep it.” Unfortunately, the proposal they have put forward would allow no such thing, falling very short of the promise not to upend the insurance market and pricing millions of people out of lifesaving health insurance.
The Center for American Progress has released an analysis of this proposal that shows that this bill is no compromise for the American people, as most would see less comprehensive coverage and fewer financial protections.
“The American people overwhelmingly approve of the components of the ACA, and Republicans in Congress are seeing now how repealing it without an adequate replacement would be disastrous for everyone,” said Topher Spiro, CAP Vice President for Health Policy and co-author of the column. “However, this proposal from Sens. Cassidy and Collins is flawed and would not provide benefits or financial protections comparable to those of the ACA.”
The “replacement” plan involves states choosing among three bad options, which would make for wild disparities between states. The three choices are:
- States can choose to keep the ACA but at a reduced funding level for financial assistance, which will raise premiums and reduce coverage
- States can opt out of the legislation and implement the Cassidy-Collins State Alternative Plan, which would take away key consumer protections and make coverage less affordable
- States can reject federal funding altogether and go it alone, but since they would still have to follow some ACA provisions, the individual health care markets would deteriorate
Regardless of which approach states take under this plan, the entire health care market will suffer, as uncertainty and inequality within the market would be the overriding effect.
Click here to read the column.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Tom Caiazza at [email protected] or 202.481.7141.