Senate Republicans on Thursday morning are expected to release an adjusted healthcare bill that would repeal and replace portions of Obamacare, even as factions of the party remain deeply divided over its rumored contents.
The latest draft is expected to include an amendment proposed by conservative Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah that would allow health insurance companies to offer less-expensive plans that do not include Obamacare's essential health benefits as long as they provide at least one plan that includes them.
It is also expected to include a $45 billion fund for states to use in the battle against the opioid epidemic and would maintain Obamacare's 3.8 percent investment tax and 0.9 percent Medicare surtax on upper-income earners.
Other parts of the legislation are expected to remain largely similar to the version announced in late June, which would repeal the individual mandate requiring people obtain insurance coverage or pay a fine. It also is expected to keep in place changes to Medicaid, including a rollback of federal support from states that have expanded it to low-income residents. It is expected to give states a fixed rate of funding for traditional Medicaid rather than matching the need each year and to tie the program's growth rate to overall inflation rather than to its current, faster-increasing medical inflation.
"It is a variation of what we already had," said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., speaking Wednesday. "This is going to be a much closer variation. I don't think there will be that many dramatic changes."
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05.02.2024