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WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate health care bill would result in 22 million more uninsured Americans over the next decade compared to current law.
That’s according to an analysis Monday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
One of the nation’s biggest health insurers says the Senate health care bill will “markedly improve” the individual insurance market’s stability and moderate premium hikes.
Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurer Anthem says the bill will help in part by appropriating money for cost-sharing reduction payments and eliminating a health insurance tax.
Cost-sharing reduction payments help cover expenses like deductibles for people with modest incomes. President Donald Trump has discussed ending these payments, and insurers planning to return to the exchanges next year want a guarantee that the payments also will return.
Anthem Inc. sells coverage in key markets like New York and California. It has said tough market conditions have forced it to pull out of exchanges in three states for 2018: Ohio, Wisconsin and Indiana.
Earlier today, Senate Republicans issued a revised version of their health care bill. The changes include a penalty for people who let their insurance lapse.
Under the new package, people who lacked coverage for at least 63 days in the past year and then buy a policy would face a six-month delay before it takes effect.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released his initial measure last week. It had no penalty for people who let their coverage expire.
The waiting period is designed to prompt healthy people who might not otherwise buy insurance to do so. That helps insurance companies pay for sicker customers who are more expensive to cover.
McConnell is hoping to push the measure through the Senate by the end of this week, but some Republicans are rebelling.
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