Republicans Obamacare Replacement Just Got A Powerful Enemy
AARP announces its opposition to the bill
WASHINGTON ― Provisions in the House Republicans’ Obamacare replacement bill that would raise insurance costs for older Americans are drawing resistance from the influential seniors’ lobby.
The American Health Care Act , as Republicans are calling it, would allow insurers to make premiums for older Americans five times what they charge younger workers ― provided that a state’s regulations allow for it. Obamacare had capped this ratio, known as an “age rating,” at 3 to 1.
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Older Americans need affordable health care services and prescriptions,” AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond said in a statement. “This plan goes in the opposite direction, increasing insurance premiums for older Americans and not doing anything to lower drug costs.”
AARP, which has nearly 38 million members ages 50 and older, is also firmly opposed to a pair of major changes to Medicaid that the House bill includes.
One is a rollback of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, which made the program available to millions of low-income adults, many of them seniors, who had no insurance before.
The other is a new Medicaid funding formula that could leave states on the hook for more and more money, a report from the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concluded Tuesday. That might force states to make cuts that hurt seniors, many of whom rely on Medicaid for nursing home care and other health services.
AARP, which has nearly 38 million members ages 50 and older, is also firmly opposed to a pair of major changes to Medicaid that the House bill includes.
One is a rollback of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, which made the program available to millions of low-income adults, many of them seniors, who had no insurance before.
Seniors are a powerful voting demographic-- because unlike many Milennials who tend to stay home on election day & sulk when they don't get their way-- seniors generally come out to vote-- in large numbers!