Who gains and who loses under the “World’s Greatest Healthcare Plan of 2017“? This is my checklist so far:
Winners
- Upper income people under age 50 who will benefit more from the new tax credit
- Healthy people who do not believe that they should be required to buy insurance because the high premium cost pays for care of the unhealthy
- Males who believe that they should not be required to pay for medical expenses unique to women.
- Large employers who do not want to provide employee health benefits.
Losers
- Lower and middle-income people over age 50 who will pay much more for insurance
- Low income people who will lose Medicaid expansion coverage
- Modest income people, often in rural areas, making 3 times the federal poverty level
- Individuals under treatment for mental conditions or other essential benefits required in current health plans but likely to be reduced or eliminated in future health plans
- Employees of companies that cancel their group health coverage without any penalty
- Women under treatment for a range of female medical issues
- Individuals who use the free annual check-up preventative care benefits included in Obamacare
I’ve followed health care reform proposals and legislation through all of its iterations for more than 30 years. Yet I’m really struggling with this proposal. Someone is going to have to explain to me what make it the world’s greatest healthcare plan. I simply don’t see that it helps many people. It hurts far more. Wall Street Journal expands on the analysis of impact of the proposal.
Leave a Reply