House could vote on GOP package without ACA tax credits
House Republicans could vote Wednesday on a conservative health care package that doesn’t extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits. Those credits expire Dec. 31 unless Congress votes to extend them.
That vote, however, is expected to fail amid GOP divisions. Last week, competing bills — one from Republicans that would have expanded health savings accounts and one from Democrats to extend the enhanced subsidies for three years — both failed to move forward in the Senate.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he plans to take a vote Wednesday on a package of conservative-sponsored health care policies. Here’s a breakdown of what’s in it.
CHOICE legislation
Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., proposed CHOICE accounts that would allow employers to offer workers tax-advantaged funds to pay for individual health insurance, instead of offering a traditional group plan. It would also offer tax incentives for employers who adopt the arrangements.
Funding cost-sharing reduction
Republicans want to end the practice of “silver loading,” in which insurers who offer plans on the ACA exchanges increased premiums on silver plans. Because federal subsidy amounts are tied to the second-lowest-cost silver plan in the marketplace, silver loading has driven up the amount of federal premium subsidies the government pays insurers.
Association health plans
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., proposed giving self-employed people the ability to buy an association health plan.
But such plans do not guarantee essential benefits, and the plans can distort the insurance market by drawing away healthy, young people, according to a statement from Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott, the top Democrat on the Education and Workforce Committee.
Stop-loss
Rep. Bob Onder, R-Mo., proposed expanding employer access to “stop-loss” policies that enable them to protect against catastrophic health costs from just a few employees.
The bill would ensure that such policies are not classified as traditional health insurance by the federal government. However, the bill also restricts states from regulating these plans.
If enhanced premium tax credits under the ACA are allowed to expire at the end of the year, out-pocket premiums for 22 million enrollees that receive premium assistance will increase by an average of 114%, or $1,016 per person, KFF reports.
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