The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Tuesday found that the House Republican health care reform package, scheduled to vote on Wednesday, would cut premiums by 11 percent and save $35.6 billion.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Los Angeles) and House Republicans last week revealed The Lower Premiums for All Americans Act, which:
- Increasing transparency for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)
- Matching cost sharing reduction (CSR) payments that will reduce insurance premiums.
- Expand access to Association Health Plans (AHPs), which will allow self-employed workers and other member organizations such as Costco, Amazon and Sam's Club to create their own health insurance pools.
- Ensure that small and medium-sized employers can protect themselves from catastrophic claims.
- Codify rules in Trump's first term that would allow employers to offer defined contributions to employees to purchase their own health insurance.
CBO and Joint Committee on Taxation, found that it would lower basic health insurance premiums by 11 percent and save $35.6 billion through 2035 or the next ten years. On the other hand, it would reduce the number of people with health insurance by 100,000 over ten years.
The nonpartisan groups' analysis largely mirrors a report from the Paragon Health Institute, which found that the GOP bill would save $30 billion and lower insurance premiums by 12 percent. The reduction in premiums occurs primarily through the assignment of cost-sharing reduction payments.
The Association's health plans will also offer much lower premiums than Obamacare:
Savings from these new AHPs ranged from 23 to 29 percent (depending on commercial insurance plans or self-funded plans). How Washington Post marked At the time, a review of more than two dozen of these health plans found that they “offer generous benefits and lower premiums than can be found in the Obamacare marketplaces.” The rule allowed groups like the Southern Arizona Chamber of Commerce to offer affordable coverage to small businesses in seven southern Arizona counties. Despite this promising start, 11 states successfully sued to block the rule, forcing these coverage options off the market.
The House will vote on the bill on Wednesday. However, he may encounter complications as there will be no vote on an amendment that would extend expiring expanded Obamacare subsidies, much to the chagrin of moderate House Republicans such as Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.).
