President Trump and the new Congress have talked about modernizing Medicare and made repealing and replacing the 2010 Health Law a priority, which also has significant implications for the federal Medicare program, and its beneficiaries.
An important question, in the debate over repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act is:
What will happen to the Law’s many provisions affecting the federal Medicare system?
The American Health Care Act (AHCA). Which recently passed the House Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means Committees, would leave most ACA changes to Medicare intact.
The GOP plan includes benefit improvements (no-cost preventative services and closing the coverage gap), reductions in payments to healthcare providers, Medicare Advantage Plans, the independent advisory board, and the center for Medicare and Medicaid innovation, (just to name a few).
On March 24th 2017 Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the Bill from the floor before a vote took place. The consensus was that it didn’t have enough affirmed votes to pass, due-to divided views toward the 2010 Law.
Not surprisingly, views varied by party with most democrats and independents stating it went too far in cutting existing programs, compared to a majority of republicans who say the AHCA didn’t pass mainly because, it did not go far enough to end Obamacare.
Speaker Ryan has promised a vote will happen, soon!
Looking ahead on Medicare:
Amid potential changes to health insurance, support for public health and prevention services, and a viable delivery system that meets the needs of our increasingly diverse population is particularly important.