The Republican proposals to repeal and replace the U.S. Affordable Care Act (ACA) would be a disaster for older Americans not yet on Medicare - but they also endanger Medicare itself.
The Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) under consideration in the U.S. Senate would mean higher premiums and reduced cost-sharing subsidies for lower-income older people. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated, for example, that under this bill the annual premium for a 64-year-old person who earns $56,800 would skyrocket by $13,700. And the Medicaid cuts will put the squeeze on states’ ability to fund long-term care (reut.rs/2tfvvZt).
via Reuters.
Related Reading:
- The Senate’s “Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017”.
- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in a letter to Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) about the same provision in the House bill estimated this would hasten Trust Fund exhaustion by three years, from 2028 to 2025. CBO estimates that the Part A Trust Fund would forgo $58.6 billion over ten years if the ACA Medicare payroll tax is repealed.
- In addition to raiding the trust fund, this could lead to cuts in Medicare, including privatizing the program, that would be detrimental to current and future beneficiaries.
