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Life Health > Long-Term Care Planning

'Final' Senate GOP ACA Change Bill Draft Is 8 Pages Long

By Allison Bell

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Senate Republicans have unveiled their proposed Health Care Freedom Act legislation, an ultra-skinny proposal for changing the Affordable Care Act.

A copy of the text, which was posted on the Senate Budget Committee website this evening, is available here.

Republicans in Congress have talked for years about wanting to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In recent months, they have debated budget measures that are more than 100 pages long and would repeal or postpone most or all Affordable Care Act tax and penalty provisions.

(Related: Some GOP Senators Cast Mixed ACA Change Bill Votes)

This week, the Senate has been debating an effort to replace the American Health Care Act bill, the Affordable Care Act bill passed by the House by a 217-213 vote on May 4, with one of several alternative bills. Senate Republican leaders have been trying to base the debate on the text of Senate Amendment 267, the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017 bill.

That bill, which was supposed to include the Affordable Care Act provisions that just about all Republicans could agree on, would repeal or postpone just about all Affordable Care Act taxes. It would also eliminate the act’s individual coverage ownership mandate and the act’s employer coverage offer mandate.

The new Health Care Freedom Act bill is just 8 pages long. It would not repeal the Affordable Care Act.

The bill would:

  • Eliminate the individual coverage mandate.

  • Eliminate the employer coverage offer mandate.

  • Extend the current moratorium on the Affordable Care Act medical device tax.

  • Increase the maximum health savings account contribution limit to the amount of the deductible starting with taxable years after Dec. 31, 2017.

  • Block states from using federal money to fund health clinics operated by organizations that provide abortions for reasons other than rape, incest or life-threatening medical conditions.

  • Provide $2 billion in funding for states’ efforts to shore up their health insurance markets, possibly in ways that could change the current rules for people with health problem.

The draft bill would leave current Affordable Care Act provisions other than the individual mandate and the employer mandate intact.

— Read 5 Better Care Bill Revision Highlights for Agents on ThinkAdvisor.

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