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Senators to Vote on Republican Healthcare Bill

by ClaimLinxSeptember 22, 2017December 4, 2019Leave a comment

This week Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, and Bill Cassidy, of Louisiana, introduced a new healthcare bill aimed at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare.

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week, as any repeal and replace bill must be completed and voted on by September 30 in order for it to pass with only a simple majority of 51 votes.

This bill would mean a radical change to the current healthcare system. Here are some of the biggest changes in the bill:

Repeals the individual mandate requiring all individuals have health insurance.
Repeals the employer mandate requiring all businesses with more than 50 employees to provide an affordable health plan.
Allows insurance companies to reinstate lifetime benefit maximums.
Allows insurance companies to charge people with preexisting conditions more money for a plan.
Requires insurance companies still provide coverage to people with preexisting conditions.
Removes the optional Medicaid expansion for each state.
Dissolves the federal insurance marketplace known as healthcare.gov.
Gets rid of the federal subsidies to help pay insurance premiums for those that cannot afford them.
Combines the funds for the Medicaid expansion and insurance subsidies into large block grants given to each state to spend freely to improve healthcare in the state.

Funding in the form of federal block grants to states would continue until the year 2026, when funding would be cut off. Most harmed by this bill are those states that chose to implement the Medicaid expansion through the ACA. States that did not do this would see a large influx of cash through the federal block grants in the bill.

Because of the short time frame to vote on the bill the Congressional Budget Office will not be able to provide a full analysis of how this will affect coverage for Americans, though the CBO did say it would release a limited analysis early next week.

You can see how your state’s funding will be affected in this analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Senate Republicans Fail to Pass ACA Replacement Bill

by ClaimLinxJuly 19, 2017December 4, 20191 Comment

One of the highest priorities this year for the Republican-controlled Congress is to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Last week Senate Republicans released a new version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act, their repeal and replace bill, but were unable to corral enough support to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.

Republicans have now returned to an earlier plan to repeal the ACA first, with a two-year waiting period for implementation during which time they will continue to work on new healthcare legislation.

However, it is not known if a measure like this would pass either. Republicans passed a bill like it in the past, during the Barack Obama presidency when Republicans knew it would be vetoed. President Donald Trump would likely sign any bill that would repeal the ACA.

As this activity in Washington continues, all of us at ClaimLinx want to reassure our clients that we are prepared to adapt to any new healthcare bill and its resulting effects on the insurance market.

It’s important to remember that until a bill is signed by the White House, the ACA and the insurance market will continue as usual. But we will be ready for any changes if and when they occur.

Congress Passes First Joint Budget Agreement in 6 Years

by Whitney FaberMay 6, 2015November 15, 20191 Comment

For the first time since 2009, Congress is in agreement on its fiduciary goals for the country. This month, the Senate passed a budget agreement, the first joint budget resolution to be passed in six years.

The proposal passed 226-197 in the House of Representatives and 51-48 in the Senate. All Democrats in the House and Senate voted against the agreement.

The proposal outlines deep cuts in domestic spending to eliminate the deficit within the next 10 years. It keeps in place the across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester, but adds nearly $90 billion to a supplemental war fund that is not held to the budgetary curbs.

“No budget will ever be perfect, but this is a budget that sensibly addresses the concerns of many different members,” Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, said in a press conference.

There are, however, few indications these spending cuts will take hold in the immediate future. Budget resolutions are used as an outline to set spending levels on future separate appropriations bills.

President Barack Obama has said he will not sign any spending measures that keep the sequester in place. He has also said he wants to see equal increases in military and domestic spending.

White House press secretary John Earnest said the budget proposal would hurt middle-class families, which rely on the domestic programs Republicans hope to cut.

“Congressional Republicans propose drastic cuts to programs that support the middle class and provide ladders of opportunity for those seeking to reach the middle class,” he said.

Also included in the budget was a procedural tool for passing bills known as reconciliation. This measure allows for legislation to pass through both chambers of Congress with a simple majority vote. Most bills will require 60 votes to overcome procedural challenges, and Republicans currently control 54 seats.

Republicans say they plan to use this tool to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, despite the Obama’s vow to veto any legislation intended to unravel or repeal the health care law.