With the 100-day mark bearing down on the Trump Administration, House Republicans are seeking to revive its previously stymied health reform bill, the American Health Care Act, in hopes of giving the President a win.
In March, House Republicans pulled the AHCA bill ahead of a full House vote because it lacked the requisite support. The House Freedom Caucus, a group of more than 40 of the most conservative members of the House Republican conference, refused to support a previous iteration of the AHCA for not going far enough in repealing provisions established by the Affordable Care Act.
In order to appeal to Freedom Caucus members and other powerful conservative interest groups, like the Club for Growth, Republican leaders added provisions to the AHCA that would allow states to opt out of the Essential Health Benefits and Community Rating Provisions. These provisions will gut critical consumer protections for pre-existing conditions, potentially leading to higher costs based on age, gender, and medical history. ANA previously opposed the House Republican plan in part because of its changes to Medicaid, which this bill converts into a per capita funding model that further imperils access to health care. The most recent changes to the AHCA are an even further departure from ANA’s principles.
ANA’s Government Affairs and Health Policy teams have been working to assess the impacts of this new version of the legislation on the health care system, and have been reaching out to key allies on Capitol Hill to voice our concerns. At this point, the House Freedom Caucus has decided to support this bill, which eliminates one of the biggest hurdles the bill faced. Advancement of this legislation now largely rests in the hands of more moderate, centrist House Republicans. To make your voice heard by reaching out to those members, visit the TrumpCare Toolkit here.
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