No Vote on Trumpcare

PROVIDENCE, RI—The U.S. House was scheduled to vote at 4 p.m. Friday to repeal the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, and replace it with Trumpcare. But ultimately, the Republicans did not have the votes to do so.

If they were to pass a new health care law, Gov. Gina Raimondo is warning Rhode Islanders that the impact would be felt here.

"TrumpCare in Rhode Island would:

* Put health insurance coverage for more than 70,000 people at risk;

* Increase costs for older adults buying standard coverage through HealthSource RI by as much as $3,700 per year;

* Put as many as 8,000 Rhode Island jobs at risk;

* Eliminate $8 million a year in federal funding for public health work; and

* Put treatment for 2,500 people with opioid-use disorder at risk," according to a press release from her office.

But conservatives are criticizing the Democratic governor's estimates as scare tactics. Mike Stenhouse said today in a televised interview on WJAR-TV he doesn't know where the governor found these estimates. Based on information he obtained, he believes nobody in Rhode Island on Medicaid would lose coverage.

Patch asked the governor's aides for their sources of information. Sophie O'Connell provided these answers.

* Put health insurance coverage for more than 70,000 people at risk; This is based on 2016 data and refers to the number of Rhode Islanders receiving health coverage through Medicaid expansion.

* Increase costs for older adults buying standard coverage through HealthSource RI by as much as $3,700 per year; This is based on the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the GOP bill.

* Put as many as 8,000 Rhode Island jobs at risk; This is based on a report by the Economic Progress Institute. That report is available at http://www.epi.org/files/pdf/120447.pdf

* Eliminate $8 million a year in federal funding for public health work; This bill would repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which infuses more than $8 million in funds into Rhode Island for critical public health needs, such as heart disease and stroke prevention, diabetes prevention, and immunization.

* Put treatment for 2,500 people with opioid-use disorder at risk. "There are 2,500 people in the state diagnosed with Opioid Use Disorder who receive coverage through the Medicaid expansion. Their access to treatment could be at risk as a result of the bill."

It's unclear if any of these impacts would happen immediately, and conservatives say they could develop over nine years, if the law is never adjusted. But they could happen soon, O'Connell said.

"A 64-year-old making $20,000 per year and buying the benchmark silver plan could see an increase in annual costs of nearly $3,700," O'Connell said, citing a statistic from the AARP. That would happen in about three years, she said.

"Using current Rhode Island data, the bill would cut premium assistance tax credits by nearly $1,700 per year. This would go into effect in 2020 only if the AHCA passes," she said.

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