Trumpcare 2.0: It’s Even Worse Than the Original
The new version would further tighten the screws on vulnerable Americans by letting insurance companies charge older people and people with pre-existing conditions much higher premiums than they charge younger and healthier people. It would also give insurers the freedom not to cover essential health services like maternity care and cancer treatment.
.. The premium for a 40-year-old earning $30,000 living in Chattanooga, Tenn., would increase by $3,000 under the bill, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
.. The AARP says that 40 percent of those between the ages of 50 and 64, or about 25 million people, have the kinds of pre-existing medical conditions that would put them at risk of losing affordable health insurance under the House bill.
.. Republican lawmakers claim that states could help anybody hurt by their bill by creating high-risk pools with the help of federal grants. But this is a disingenuous argument. Many states operated high-risk pools before the A.C.A., but they ran up large losses and benefited few people.
.. A recent Pew poll found that 60 percent of people say that the government has a responsibility to make sure everybody has health care.