The House Health Care Bill: New Taxpayer Subsidies

Nina Owcharenko Schaefer / October 29, 2009

The President promised that health care “reform” would expand coverage and choices for American families. Unfortunately, after a preliminary review of the “affordability credits” in the newly unveiled House bill (HR 3962), the opposite will occur. These credits limit access, limit choice and are administratively bound to fail.

Limits Access. The House bill would limit who is eligible for the “affordability credit.” First, all people below 400% FPL are technically eligible for the credit, but the bill also expands Medicaid eligibility to 150% FPL and appears to deny access to the credit to those who are “eligible” for Medicaid. This simply gives the false impression that poor people will get a choice of better care under this bill. The reality is all they get is a chance to join the substandard government-run Medicaid plan. Second, while there are some minor exceptions for those whose employer coverage exceeds 12 percent of income (an increase from the earlier bill), individuals with an offer of employer-based coverage would not be eligible. As more and more employers dump coverage (“not offering”), the price tag of the credit will skyrocket as more workers would qualify for the credit. (more…)