Even though the primary legislative bills to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA)–the AHCA and BRA- did not have sufficient support across U.S. Congress to become law, and someof their provisions may not have been allowed under reconciliation rules, it is worth consideringthe main features of the bills to understand the type of health reform changes many Republicans support. Overall, these bills reduced taxes, eliminated government mandates, lowered federal government spending, lowered premiums for some people while increasing them for others, phased out the Medicaid expansion under the ACA, and ended Medicaid as an entitlement program. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the effect of the bills would be to significantly increase the number of uninsured, significantly reduce the deficit, and lower costs for young and healthy consumers, and increase costs for older and poorer consumers (Congressional Budget Office, June 26.2017 Congressional Budget Office, July 23, 2017).Everyone agrees the ACA can be improved. Are there features of these bills that you think have merit? should states have more flexibility under the ACA? How much of the cost burden should young and healthy individuals bear in order to make health insurance more affordable for elderly and sicker individuals?
