On Friday, March 24th, Republican leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives were forced to pull their legislation reforming the Affordable Care Act just minutes before the full House was to vote on the measure. Despite weeks of negotiation between President Trump, Republican leaders, and recalcitrant Republican House members on the details of their reform bill, known as the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the measure failed to receive the votes need to pass and the bill was pulled prior to a vote.
The Wall Street Journal has a great (and short) video highlighting the politics of the AHCA’s failure.
While the AHCA is currently dead, it’s important to note a few of the key concepts of the ACA that would have been changed under the Republican plan. The AHCA proposed to repeal:
- Mandate that everyone have health insurance or face a penalty
- Penalties on employers who do not provide health insurance to employees
- Premium subsidies (replaced with tax credits)
- Medicaid expansion
- Taxes to pay for insurance expansion provisions
With the AHCA’s failure, the ACA is likely to remain intact for the foreseeable future. That said, there are regulatory actions the Trump Administration can take to address several of the issues facing the individual market and Health Insurance Marketplaces ahead of the 2018 plan year. If action is taken, it is likely to be focused on reducing premiums and the administrative burden currently placed on health plans.
It is likely that Congress will continue to explore legislation that tackles the ACA in the coming months. As recent as March 28th, President Trump publicly mused about working with Democrats on a bipartisan healthcare package. On the same day, House Republicans publicly committed themselves to another vote on ACA reform this spring. While the AHCA may have died, it may find new life soon enough.
As the fallout from the AHCA’s failure settles, we will continue to closely monitor any ACA reform efforts and the potential impact on URAC and the markets we serve. It is important to note that nothing proposed to date would directly impact any URAC accreditation programs.
Despite the great deal of uncertainty surrounding the future of the ACA, URAC remains well positioned for success.
If you’re interested in more information on ACA reform efforts, check out the GR SharePoint Folder dedicated to this topic. If ACA reform is of particular interest to you, I encourage to stay engaged and share information of interest with me and your colleagues via email, SharePoint, and Yammer.
As always, I will do my best to keep you informed of any developments and please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions of if you would like to discuss this in more detail!
