House committees begin markups of ACA repeal legislation

The House Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means committees today began marking up their respective bills to repeal and replace parts of the Affordable Care Act – collectively known as the American Health Care Act. Together, the package would repeal the ACA’s employer and individual mandates to purchase health coverage and replace the law's means-tested advance premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions with tax credits that vary by age and income. The bills also would end the enhanced Medicaid federal funding for future expansion populations, beginning in 2020, and transition the program to a per capita cap funding model. The package does not restore the hospital market basket reductions or Medicare disproportionate share hospital cuts used to help fund the ACA coverage expansions. AHA members received a Special Bulletin March 7 with further details. AHA yesterday in a letter to House members said that it cannot support the package in its current form. House leaders have expressed a desire to have the package on the House floor before the end of the month.