Washington, D.C. (April 22, 2017) — A new column from the Center for American Progress finds that under President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) latest proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, millions of people with pre-existing conditions could see their premiums soar, costing them thousands of dollars more for coverage each year. After failing to force through the repeal bill in March, the White House and Congressional Republicans are trying to rally support in their caucus by letting insurers charge much higher rates to people with pre-existing conditions.
Proponents of this new plan have argued that the premium increases will be offset through a new so-called invisible risk sharing program. The risk pool would provide $15 billion over nine years, but with Trump and Congress proposing to cut hundreds of billions of dollars of ACA subsidies that help people afford insurance, this new fund would do next to nothing to mitigate the damage from the bill.
“The proposed invisible risk pool would shave only a tiny sliver off the increased costs that consumers would face if pre-existing condition protections were stripped away, which could run in the tens of thousands of dollars for the sickest consumers,” said Emily Gee, Health Economist at CAP.
CAP’s report estimates the premium surcharges for people with various medical conditions if Trump and Congress were to repeal the pre-existing condition protections in the ACA. People with asthma could be charged 106 percent above more standard rates, while those with metastatic cancer would see a crushing 3,500 percent increase in their premiums. Even accounting for the invisible risk pool, that would mean astronomically high premium increases, including $4,270 for asthma, $17,060 for pregnancy, $26,180 for rheumatoid arthritis, and $140,510 for metastatic cancer.
“This new plan is even more harmful to working families than the last one. It would strip away important protections for those with pre-existing conditions, sending their premiums skyrocketing. Rather than continue to make a bad bill worse, Trump and House Republicans should stop debating repeal and start considering commonsense ways to build on the ACA’s progress in making affordable health care coverage available to all Americans,” said Sam Berger, Senior Policy Adviser at CAP.
Click here to read “Latest ACA Repeal Plan Would Explode Premiums for People with Pre-Existing Conditions” by Sam Berger and Emily Gee.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Rafael Medina rns at [email protected] or 202.748.5313.
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all. We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values. We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
You can thank people who supported Bernie Sanders and third party for this. I could see this coming if Trumpy Dumpy won so I worked as hard as I could to prevent it. But the Sanders campaign did such a wonderful job of demonizing HIllary (she got paid to speak to Wall Street people) that her image and credibility were tarnished beyond repair. Then the general election came and all the Trump supporters had to do was to reiterate what the Sanders people and the third party candidates (do anybody still remember who those clowns are) said about her. That plus the bad timing of the email controversies and Trumpy Dumpy won just barely. In an election this close, the role played by Bernie and third party supporters was huge. I could have said I told you so but what good does that do. So when you see a Bernie or third party supporters hold them accountable to what is happening to our country now.