WASHINGTON (AP) — A draft Republican bill overhauling the nation’s health care law would provide tax credits that grow to $4,000 for people age 60 and up, and let insurers boost rates for older people.
The 105-page document largely follows outlines that Republican leaders have advanced previously of how they’d annul President Barack Obama’s health care law and replace it with their own programs. It has been circulating among lobbyists and congressional staff.
The draft bill is two weeks old. GOP congressional aides say it is subject to change.
But it provides some new details of their approach. And it shows that Republicans, even in a preliminary way, have begun translating their ideas into legislative language.
GOP leaders hope congressional committees will begin formally writing their legislation next month.
Meanwhile, some Republican governors are sending a clear message to Congress: Don’t scrap the health care law without a viable alternative.
Eight Republican governors from all regions of the country are presenting a proposal to the Republican Governors Association meeting in Washington on Saturday. And it would call for major changes to Medicaid, the joint federal and state health care program that covers more than 70 million poor and low-income Americans.
According to a draft of the proposal obtained by The Associated Press, the governors are urging Congress to adopt an alternative that would essentially end Medicaid as a federal entitlement and allow each state to design its own approach.
The proposal, if adopted by the RGA, would be submitted to congressional leaders as House Republicans prepare to unveil their plan.
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