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 Republicans have yet to agree on a single detailed policy proposal
to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the signature
domestic policy of former Democratic President Barack Obama.
Still to be worked out are details including the future of Medicaid,
the government health insurance program for the poor that was
expanded in more than 30 states under Obamacare, and how a new
healthcare law would be funded.
One emerging scenario among Republicans is that the millions of
people who received health coverage through the expansion of
Medicaid would be "grandfathered in," according to the Washington
Post. States that did not expand Medicaid could receive more money
through increased federal "disproportionate share" payments used to
help hospitals that serve a large number of uninsured patients.
And a draft Republican replacement plan for Obamacare, which news
outlet Politico uploaded to its website, would cap the amount of
money given to states for Medicaid and end tax subsidies based on
income for the purchase of individual plans in 2020.
House staffers would not comment on the authenticity of the
document, which was dated Feb. 10. President Donald Trump and
Republicans have said they would present a plan for repealing and
replacing Obamacare in the coming weeks.
It is not clear whether there is sufficiently broad support among
Republican lawmakers for all of the measures in the draft proposal,
or how the plans might change as they move through congressional
committees.
The draft "addresses the major issues and is a serious proposal for
transitioning out of Obamacare," said Ed Haislmaier, a senior
research fellow and healthcare policy expert at the Heritage
Foundation who was on Trump's transition team.
"Clearly the details will continue to evolve and we'll be watching
as they do," he said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
U.S. health insurance executives, many of whom have lost hundreds of
millions of dollars on the Obamacare individual insurance markets,
are due to meet with Trump on Monday, according to a Bloomberg
report. A Blue Cross Blue Shield Association spokeswoman confirmed
it was invited to the meeting and will attend.
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Republicans have repeatedly pledged not to "pull the rug out" from
millions of Americans who gained access to healthcare under the law,
and recent polls show more respondents favoring Obamacare than
opposing it.
The Kaiser Family Foundation found broad bipartisan support for
maintaining federal funding for the Medicaid expansion, with 84
percent of respondents saying it was important to do so, according
to a survey released on Friday. The poll also found the law has
record levels of support, with more Americans now viewing it
favorably than unfavorably.
"Obamacare has failed. We welcome any and all efforts to repeal and
replace it that put patients first," said Caitlin Oakley, a
spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Democrats decried the draft proposal on Friday and said it would
cause millions of Americans to lose their health insurance.
"The deeply harmful path House Republicans have laid out would spell
disaster for families nationwide," U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a
Washington state Democrat, said in a statement. "President Trump,
who promised families he would provide insurance for everyone,
should be the first to oppose it."
(Additional reporting by Toni Clarke in Washington and Caroline
Humer in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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