Replace with what?

Affordable Care Act repeal threatens chaos for Oklahomans’ health care

Repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a hallmark of Republican platforms since the health reform law passed in 2010. Now, with the GOP holding both houses of Congress as well as the White House, efforts have already begun for Congress to make good on its promises to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. Although significant uncertainty surrounds both repeal and whatever might come after, we have some idea of what both could look like – and what they mean for Oklahoma.

Any ACA repeal would likely happen through a process known as budget reconciliation, which can be approved with a bare majority rather than needing 60 votes to get past a Senate filibuster. Because reconciliation deals only with the budget, this would only partially repeal the ACA. However, even partial repeal could dismantle the primary components of the ACA, including ending the individual mandate to obtain health insurance; stopping tax credits used to make coverage on Healthcare.gov more affordable; and ceasing the generous federal match to pay for expansion of Medicaid to everyone below the poverty line.

If that happens without a replacement plan immediately in place, the effects would be catastrophic, with at least 20 million Americans instantly uninsured. Since many lawmakers want to avoid this, they could delay cutting off funding for exchange subsidies and Medicaid expansion by several months or years, which lawmakers say would give them time to craft a replacement.

Carly Putnam is a policy analyst with Oklahoma Policy Institute. For the rest of this article and more, visit okpolicy.org.