As Republicans attempt to jam a sneaky health care repeal into law through their partisan tax bill, expert analysis after expert analysis has come to the same conclusion: health care costs will go up massively, particularly for older Americans. This week, independent analyses by AARP and Commonwealth Fund echoed that of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, finding that the sneaky repeal in Senate tax bill will result in higher health care costs, effectively levying an age tax on older Americans, and result in 13 million people losing coverage — all to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest and corporations.
REPEAL WOULD IMPOSE AN AGE TAX ON OLDER AMERICANS
The Commonwealth Fund: Premiums Would Be $1,875 Higher For 60 Year Olds. “Average premiums in the nongroup market would increase by about 10 percent in most years of the decade (with no changes in the ages of people purchasing insurance accounted for) relative to CBO’s baseline projections.” This amounts to a…$1,269 increase in 2019, rising to $1,875 in 2027 for a 60-year old, effectively an age tax on older adults.
AARP: Repeal Would Impose Age Tax Of Up To $1,500 On Older Adults. According to an analysis by AARP, “Older adults ages 50–64 would be at particularly high risk under the proposal, facing average premium increases of up to $1,500 in 2019 as a result of the bill.”
THE REPUBLICAN TAX CUT FOR THE WEALTHY AND CORPORATIONS WOULD BE PAID FOR BY TENS OF BILLIONS IN MEDICARE CUTS
CBO: Republican Tax Scheme Would Result In $25 Billion In Medicare Cuts. “Without enacting subsequent legislation to either offset that deficit increase, waive the recordation of the bill’s impact on the scorecard, or otherwise mitigate or eliminate the requirements of the PAYGO law, OMB would be required to issue a sequestration order within 15 days of the end of the session of Congress to reduce spending in fiscal year 2018 by the resultant total of $136 billion. However, the PAYGO law limits reductions to Medicare to four percentage points (or roughly $25 billion for that year), leaving about $111 billion to be sequestered from the remaining mandatory accounts.”
13 MILLION PEOPLE WOULD LOSE COVERAGE TO PAY FOR TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY
13 Million People Lose Coverage To Pay For Tax Cuts For The Rich. “Eliminating the health care coverage requirement would also mean that millions more Americans will become uninsured. CBO has estimated that 4 million people under age 65 would no longer have health insurance coverage as early as 2019 if this provision is enacted. By 2027, that number would rise to 13 million people left without coverage.”