Majority of market-place enrollees to see premium increases; Iowa to shoulder more Medicaid costs

With the U.S. Senate back in session after an Independence Day recess as of press time, the priority of the GOP-controlled governing body is to coalesce around its Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), the repeal and replacement for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare/ ACA), and take a vote to pass the legislation. Much has been said about the Senate bill, which was released at the end of last June after weeks behind closed doors, primarily the report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that 22 million fewer Americans will have health insurance by the year 2026. This CBO arrived at this figure through calculating the bill’s rollback of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion as well as decreasing the federal budget for Medicaid, and decreasing subsidies forcing Americans to go without insurance in order to avoid higher premiums.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a non-profit, non-partisan organization that focuses on national health issues through analysis and journalism for policymakers, the media, the health policy community and the public, Franklin County Iowans who participate in the market-place exchanges will face higher premiums, should the bill be passed. Using data compiled by KFF, The Chronicle was able to create charts and graphs comparing premiums, subsidies and costs under the current ACA, with the proposed BCRA.
Read the full article in the July 12 edition of the Hampton Chronicle.