Key takeaways

• Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act (“AHCA”), a bill that marks the first step by President Trump and Congressional Republicans to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The next stop for the AHCA is the Senate, where it may be substantially revised.
• The House version of the AHCA would repeal a number of ACA provisions, including the individual mandate, many of the ACA’s taxes and the ACA’s subsidies that support the purchase of insurance. It would also limit the growth in federal Medicaid spending. The AHCA would replace the ACA’s subsidies with refundable tax credits that are based on age. It also would include funding that is designed to facilitate the purchase of health insurance by people with preexisting conditions and to stabilize the individual and small group insurance markets.
• As a result of recent compromises between moderate and conservative Republicans, the AHCA would allow states to apply for waivers to exempt them from some of the ACA’s insurance provisions, provided that states meet certain requirements.