June 2017 | Joel C. Cantor | Opinion: Communities Matter for Better Health
On May 4 the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act, which the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts would lead to 23 million people becoming uninsured over the coming decade (starting with 14 million in 2018). If enacted, the AHCA would lower average health-insurance premiums relative to what they would be under current law, but it would achieve this mainly by permitting insurers to reduce the scope of benefits covered by health plans and potentially charge some with pre-existing conditions much higher premiums. Significantly, according to the CBO, the AHCA would increase premiums for many older and sicker people buying coverage in the individual (not employer-sponsored) market, for some by as much as eightfold. This, according to the CBO, would put coverage out of reach for many vulnerable people who need it most.