While Republicans in the Senate continue working on a healthcare bill they won't let their colleagues or the public see, experts have been analyzing the version that passed in the House in May. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) score of the The American Health Care Act (AHCA) revealed that millions of Americans would lose insurance under the law, and now a new study shows the impact on millennials would be detrimental.
About 23 million Americans of all ages would no longer have health coverage by 2026, according to the CBO. That's one million less people than the CBO estimated would become uninsured under the original House bill before an amendment was added, but the AHCA would still greatly increase the number of people without coverage.
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The elderly would be one of the most affected demographics if the AHCA became law, as insurance providers could charge older Americans more than their younger counterparts and the government would provide less help in the form of subsidies. But, people of all ages would lose insurance, according to a new study from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities examining the CBO's data.
Roughly 6.4 million people between the ages of 19 and 29 would lose their health coverage, the study says, largely due to less subsidies, putting an end to Medicaid expansion, and allowing insurers in some states to charge more for preexisting conditions. That comes out to about one in eight Americans in that age bracket.
Although the AHCA would lower premiums for millennials without preexisting conditions, they would get less coverage and it would be harder for millions to get an insurance plan. It would keep the Affordable Care Act's provision allowing people 26 and under to stay on their parents' insurance plans, but parents could also lose their insurance (the same study estimates that 8.2 million people between the ages of 30 and 49 and 5.1 million people aged 50 to 64 would lose coverage).
Obviously, you can't stay on your parents' healthcare plan if they no longer have it.
Even President Trump, who's championed the Republican healthcare reform from the beginning and celebrated the House vote in the Rose Garden, reportedly told senators the House's AHCA is "mean" earlier this week. It's unclear how closely the Senate's version will mimic AHCA since Republican senators won't release the draft, but if it is similar, millions of Americans of all ages will feel the repercussions.
If you want to tell your representatives to support healthcare policies that help all Americans, don't hesitate to pick up the phone.