March 2017
At press time, legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has stalled in the House of Representatives. Speaker of the House Ryan was forced to pull the bill from consideration because it lacked the needed 215 votes to pass the House of Representatives. Centrist Republicans had concerns with the bill because of the projected increase in the number of uninsured, while more conservative members opposed the bill because it did not repeal core aspects of the Affordable Care Act – most notably the "essential health benefits" provision of the Affordable Care Act. Based on statements being issued by both the Trump Administration and the leaders from the House of Representatives, it appears efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act have been stalled for the foreseeable future.
In a press conference announcing that he was pulling the legislation from the House floor, Speaker Ryan said, "We will be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future."
An estimated thirty-seven Conservative Freedom Caucus and moderate Republicans planned to vote against the AHCA, despite ongoing negotiations and meetings between the President, House leadership and the House Freedom Caucus and moderate Republicans. The bill was modified with additional Medicaid changes, including work requirements for non-disabled childless adults to receive benefits. Negotiations over the last few days centered on a possible bill repeal of the ACA's essential benefit standards (EHB's), an effort which may have led to additional Republican moderate defections. The ACA's EHB standards require insurance plans to cover 10 essential benefit areas including hospitalization, prescription drug coverage and maternity and newborn care.
ATS issued the following press release:
Repeal and Replacement Withdrawn from House Consideration
New York, NY – March 24, 2017 – The American Thoracic Society is relieved the House of Representatives paused in their consideration of legislation repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. While not without flaws, the Affordable Care Act has been effective in expanding health insurance coverage to millions of American families. The expansion of health insurance coverage has improved the health and economic security of many Americans and has had a positive impact on health care facilities across the nation. The legislation being considered by the House would have moved backwards by dramatically increasing the number of uninsured Americans, likely led to significant price increases for many Americans, particularly elderly and rural Americans and may have destabilized the insurance markets.
We hope the legislative pause will allow members in both parties to find common ground to evaluate what works in the Affordable Care Act and address needed areas of improvement. The ATS looks forward to working with members in both parties to improve health care for all Americans.
