Though most media coverage of congressional Republicans' efforts to repeal and replace the ACA focuses on how the GOP healthcare plan would affect individuals on the exchanges or enrolled in Medicaid, both the House and Senate proposed bills would also have significant effects on the 150 million Americans who receive health benefits through their employers, according to a Health Affairs blog post.
Here are four key notes from the blog.
- The bills would remove requirements that individual and small employers cover 10 essential health benefits, which include prescriptions, maternity care and mental health treatment. Under the Republican plan, employees could see their coverage reduced significantly, according to the blog.
- The GOP plan would also eliminate catastrophic cost protections, allowing for payers to put annual and lifetime limits on coverage. This would be most acutely felt by those with pre-existing conditions.
- The Republican plan would likely also make it challenging to start a business or become self-employed, particularly for those with preexisting conditions. The GOP plan would allow payers to charge people with preexisting conditions more for their care, making it financially difficult to start a business and maintain health insurance.
- Maintaining health insurance and early retirement could also be difficult. The blog notes the GOP proposal that would allow payers to charge older enrollees up to five times more than younger enrollees for the same plan could put early retirement out of reach. By increasing the share older enrollees pay for their care, many Americans may opt to stay employed until Medicare kicks in.
Read the full post here.
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