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babylonsister

(171,076 posts) Mon Mar 13, 2017, 06:39 PM Mar 2017

CBO: Republican health care bill raises premiums for older, poor Americans by more than 750%

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/13/14914596/ahca-cbo-premiums-age

CBO: Republican health care bill raises premiums for older, poor Americans by more than 750%
The American Health Care Act would make a low-income 64-year-old in the individual market pay more than half his income for health insurance.

Updated by German Lopez@germanrlopezgerman.lopez@vox.com Mar 13, 2017, 5:24pm EDT

The Republican-backed American Health Care Act would be totally devastating to older Americans who rely on the individual market for insurance, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The bill does bring down overall premiums in the individual market by about 10 percent by 2026 compared with what they would be under current law, the CBO found. But the CBO includes a big caveat: This would greatly differ based on age and income.

The CBO offers an example of a single individual with an annual income of $26,500.

If that person is 21 years old, he’ll largely benefit from the Republican health care bill. Under the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), he would on average pay $1,700 in premiums for insurance. Under the Republican plan, he would pay $1,450.

But if that person is 64 years old, he would be hurt by the Republican bill. Under Obamacare, he would also pay $1,700 in premiums for insurance. But under the Republican bill, he would pay $14,600 — more than half his annual income. That amounts to more than a 750 percent increase in premiums from Obamacare to the Republican bill.

A 64-year-old who’s making $68,200 a year would fare a bit better. Under Obamacare, he’s expected to pay $15,300 in premiums for insurance — because his income would be too high to receive the law’s tax credits. But under the Republican bill, everyone below $75,000 gets a tax credit based on age (with a phaseout for higher incomes). So he would get a subsidy that would reduce his premium to $14,600 — just barely enough to be lower than it would be under Obamacare.

Here’s how all of that looks in chart form:

Chart @ link. I don't know how to post it.