VPC Analysis: The American Health Care Act

March 8, 2017

Since the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) was enacted in 2010, it has helped millions of Americans gain access to health insurance — and especially benefitted unmarried women, people of color, and millennials. Between 2013 (the beginning of open enrollment) and 2016, the uninsured rate among African-Americans dropped by 9.8 percentage points, adults 19-25 by 11.9 percentage points, and Hispanics by a staggering 15.9 percentage points.

All the while, Republicans have been pledging to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act at their first opportunity — and on Monday, March 6, Republicans in Congress introduced their replacement plan, which they’re calling the American Health Care Act.

Our researchers have analyzed the AHCA and found that it jeopardizes all of the gains realized in the Affordable Care Act:

Millions of Americans are likely to lose insurance coverage as the ACA’s Medicaid expansion ends in 2020.
Health-care costs will rise significantly, especially for those with low incomes, because the Republican plan cuts health insurance subsidies and eliminates cost-sharing subsidies that help low-income Americans afford health insurance and health care.
The AHCA offers $600 billion in tax cuts to the wealthy, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The AHCA could potentially unravel the individual insurance market by producing a spiral of increasing costs, reducing coverage and raising deductibles.

Read our one-page analysis summary below.

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VPC Analysis of the American Health Care Act (PDF)

Read about how Congressional Republicans' proposed replacement for the Affordable Care Act would jeopardize all of the gains we've made in health care since 2010.

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There are 110.6 unmarried people 18 or older in America, making up 45.2% of the U.S. adult population.
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Read the rest of the U.S. Census Bureau’s “Facts for Features” profile (PDF) on unmarried Americans.

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VPC Analysis: The American Health Care Act

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