Understand the big picture
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| Published: | 2017-Mar-01 |
| Last Updated: | 2017-Jul-18 |
| Principal Writer: | Barry Shatzman |
 | Understanding The Issue |
 | House Bill |
| Senate Rewrites |
| Issue Status |
| Analysis and Perspectives |
| More Information |
American Health Care Act
2017 (HR-1628)
American Health Care Act (House)2017 (HR-1628H)
Better Care Reconciliation Act2017 (HR-1628S)
Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act2010 (HR-3590)
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This is about replacing our national health care policy
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) has defined U.S. health care policy since 2011. Congressional Republicans have tried several times to repeal it.
With a Republican president, as well as Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, significant changes to the policy are more probable. The biggest attempt to date is the bill numbered HR-1628. There are two similar versions...
o The Senate announced the Better Care Reconciliation Act. They later abandoned that, and instead tried to pass the American Health Care Act passed by the House. But it was an attempt in name only. Senate Republicans proposed several versions of an Obamacare repeal that would completely replace the text of the House version. That failed too.
Though the bill remains active in the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not said if or when an attempt to pass some version of this bill would resume.
In the following sections, we explain how the various versions of the bill would have affected health care for Americans.
Both proposals have significant differences with Obamacare
The two bills differ, but are similar in a few ways...
o Each provides less assistance for people to purchase health care coverage.
o Each deeply cuts spending for Medicaid.
o Several taxes on those earning more than $200,000 per year - that were enacted to pay for Obamacare - would be eliminated.
To summarize the changes - most Americans would pay more for their health care because the federal government would be paying less. Most of the money saved by the federal government would be given to those who earn more than $200,000 per year.
In the following sections we'll explain these differences, and show how those differences could affect you.
Click here to continue to the next section of this issue...