Submitted by Justin Bilyj,
The Republican party has just released their healthcare bill and really, it isn't a replacement, more like an alteration of Obamacare. There's no full repeal, but just tinkering with definitions, you know the usual way DC get's things done.
So you're probably wondering what's in the bill. I perused the bill just this morning and here's a list of 24 items covered in this 142 page healthcare bill.
- Gives subsidies illegal immigrants if they are working in the United States
- Subsidies based on 350% Federal Poverty Level, not 400%.
- Gets rid of business and consumer mandates with no penalty
- Qualified plans don't need to provide abortion coverage unless it's to save the life of the mother
- Each state gets 15-10 Billion for uninsurables
- Cadillac tax is gone
- OTC med tax is gone
- HSA penalty tax is 10%
- Prescription tax is gone
- Medical device tax is gone
- Business owners can deduct part d expense again
- Deductible medical expenses are back to 7.5% instead of 10% AGI
- Tanning tax is gone (ironic)
- Net investment tax is gone
- HSA deductibility will be adjusted every year for COLA
- Both spouses can now make catch-up contributions to a family HSA
- 60 day limitation to setting up an HSA account when first getting the plan for purposes of a current claim
- No coverage for abortion clinics
- Repeal of cost-sharing subsidy
- MLR set by states
- Grants for states battling opiod addiction (like mine)
- CHIP is reauthorized
- $5,000 app fee to create small business association health pool
- Psychiatric coverage is limited to institutionalized individuals only, and for stays up to 30 days but not to exceed 90 days
- The Senate draft health-care bill doesn’t currently include a provision penalizing people who don’t maintain continuous coverage
There's even more than that within the bill, mostly about Medicaid, Small Business healthplan requirements etc.
Key Takeaways for Ohioans
The takeaway here is that Small Businesses will breathe a sigh of relief, and no one is out of the water just yet. Many counties and areas lay devestated from companies pulling out, and yanking their cost-sharing subsidies will guarantee underwriting will be fierce when things go back to the way they were before PPACA (Obamacare) was started.
Consumers can expect greater leeway with their HSA's as the penalty has decreased back down to 10% for those that have to use the money for non-medical purposes.
If this passes I don't envision the transition being easy, and there will be more tinkerings with the law to come.