Yesterday evening the House Ways & Means and Energy & Commerce committees unveiled their legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
- Energy & Commerce bill (PDF)
- Energy & Commerce section-by-section summary (PDF)
- Ways & Means bill (PDF)
- Ways & Means section-by-section summary (PDF)
We will be sending out more information about what’s in the legislation, but based on our preliminary review, much of what we anticipated is included. The legislation repeals or phases out many of the ACA’s major provisions including the individual and employer mandates, the 10 Essential Health Benefits, Medicaid expansion, and importantly, the Community First Choice Option (CFCO). It repeals the ACA’s subsidies and replaces them with age-based tax credits. It also introduces continuous coverage requirements and creates a Patient and State Stability fund that states can use for a variety of activities, including the creation of high risk pools. The legislation essentially pays for these changes, plus millions in tax cuts, by restructuring Medicaid into a per-capita cap system, which will result in drastic cuts that will increase exponentially over time.
Even though the legislation has not yet been scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), both House committees are expected to mark up their bills on Wednesday of this week, with the full House voting soon after. We do not yet know if the markups will be live streamed, but event pages with further information are available at:
While Senate support for this legislation has recently been called into question, we know that Congress is trying to have a bill passed in both the House and the Senate this month. We cannot let this happen! This proposed legislation will be incredibly dangerous for people with disabilities. If it passes, affordable coverage will once again be out of reach for many people with disabilities, and our ability to live in our homes and communities will be at risk.
We need to ramp up the pressure! Keep calling your Senators and Representatives. Tell them that this plan is unacceptable, and that we won’t accept Congress turning their backs on their disabled constituents all around the country. And, follow the upcoming markups if you can, and make sure to Tweet at your members of Congress and post on Facebook while they’re happening. This fight is not over yet!
