Dive Brief:
- The Republican House members unveiled their alternative to the Affordable Care Act today, and some (not just Democrats) who have read the proposal claim it's short on details and a step in the wrong direction when it comes to employer-paid healthcare benefits.
- According to the Associated Press, the plan is centered on individual tax credits people can use to buy coverage from private insurers. Other components include medical liability reform and expanding access to health savings accounts.
- The AP reports that the 37-page white paper is not a replacement proposal for the ACA, leaving unanswered questions such as the size of the tax credits, the plan's overall cost and the number of Americans who would be covered.Â
Dive Insight:
Regarding the plan's impact on employer-paid healthcare benefits, the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), a non-profit association of 425 large U.S. employers, is glad the report recognizes the important role employers play in providing affordable, high-quality coverage to working Americans and their families, and in driving innovation in the delivery of health care, according to Brian Marcotte, NBGH's president and CEO.
Marcotte adds, however, that the NBGH is concerned that changes to the tax treatment of employer-sponsored health benefits (one of the things mentioned in the report) would make it more costly for employers to offer and employees to afford coverage. Rather than taxing benefits, Marcotte says the NBGH encourages Congress to focus more on removing payment incentives for healthcare providers and suppliers that drive unnecessary health care spending.
"This includes moving faster toward paying for value in Medicare rather than volume, and ridding Medicare of financial incentives that encourage providers to use more expensive care in more expensive settings when lower cost alternatives of equal or better quality exist," he says.
Considering that the House GOP plan is light on specifics, it looks like the November election will need to play out before there are changes, if any, to the ACA as it now exists.