Washington, D.C. — In July, House Republicans, led by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), released a white paper outlining their potential replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. In a new issue brief published today, the Center for American Progress explains how the proposed GOP policy would destabilize the entire U.S. health care system and leave millions of families less secure in their health coverage.
Nearly 24 million people could lose their health insurance by 2021 if the GOP plan went into effect. CAP’s issue brief explains how the proposed GOP policies would undermine key parts of the ACA, including the law’s reforms that provide fairer treatment for those with pre-existing conditions, low-income people, and older Americans.
“House Republican’s proposed health care plan essentially quarantines older and less healthy Americans in separate, more expensive, unsustainable markets,” said Maura Calsyn, Director of Health Policy at CAP. “It throws major gains made by the ACA out the window. We cannot separate the healthy from the sick. By doing so we weaken everyone’s health care protections and increase costs across the health care system.”
The House Republican plan would allow insurers to once again sell bare-bones plans that lack coverage for essential health benefits. The plan would also limit financial assistance for those who need help affording health care coverage. And it would shift older, less healthy individuals into unsustainable, underfunded high risk-pools. It would also gut the Medicaid program and force seniors to shoulder far more of their health care costs. The House GOP’s white paper ignores the success of the ACA. The law’s coverage expansion has covered 20 million people and cost billions of dollars less than projected. The ACA is working and does not need to be replaced.
Read the full issue brief, “House GOP Proposals Would Make Health Coverage Less Secure for All Americans,” by Maura Calsyn and Thomas Huelskoetter online here.
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For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Liz Bartolomeo at [email protected] or 202.481.8151.