Under the ACA, low-income and middle-class people can enjoy subsidized insurance. However, the AHCA failed bill suggested that tax credits would not be consistent with people’s income. They would depend on a person’s age and provide senior citizens with access to subsidized healthcare. The HCA has introduced the notion of “individual mandate,” which presupposes that each American either buys insurance or pays a fine. The proposed AHCA suggested a system of continuous coverage provisions under which people who chose not to buy insurance did not face penalties (Reed, 2017). However, if they were uninsured for two months or longer, they had to pay additional money for the insurance when they chose to buy it.
There are numerous reasons why AHCA failed; specifically, the proposed access of older people to subsidized healthcare would result in a money shift from the groups who most urgently need financing. This will be the result of a dramatic rise in premiums from three to five times that goes alongside subsidized insurance (Reed, 2017). Secondly, many young but sick people will be left out of the system. Those people who are in relatively good health would have no incentive to buy insurance, which will lead to a situation when there is not enough money in the system (Reed, 2017). Since AHCA suggests extensive insurance coverage for older patients who are likely to need a lot of care and does not intend to bill relatively healthy individuals, the system may soon face a money shortage. Besides, under AHCA, older population groups getting subsidized insurance may still not have the money to pay the associated costs, for example, co-pays.
References
Reed, Eric (2017). Why the AHCA Has Already Failed. Web.