{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s191-115/featured_patient-freedom-act-of-2017-1486278254.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s191-115/featured_large_patient-freedom-act-of-2017-1486278254.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s191-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2017-01-23","title_override":"Sens. Collins's & Cassidy's Plan to Replace Obamacare With the “Patient Freedom Act”","summary_override":"

This bill — known as the Patient Freedom Act of 2017 — would look to replace Obamacare by preserving some portions of the law and repealing others and giving states the option of keeping their exchanges or developing a new alternative. It would repeal the individual and employer mandates, the requirements that healthcare plans fit into four categories, age requirements that drive up prices for the young, and benefit mandates. It would keep certain consumer protections, like the prohibition on excluding people with pre-existing conditions, letting individuals stay on their parents’ plan until they’re 26, and preserving coverage for mental health and substance abuse disorders.

States would be able to choose one of three options:

Reimplement the ACA: States could reinstate Obamacare’s mandates and other requirements. Under this option they’d be able to continue receiving federal premium tax credits, cost-sharing subsidies, and Medicaid dollars as long as those subsidies don’t exceed the contributions that’d be made under the second option.
Choose a New State Alternative: States could enact a new market-based system that empowers patients while still protecting those with pre-existing conditions. It could continue to receive funding equal to 95 percent of federal premium tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies plus the federal Medicaid match. They could receive funds in the form of beneficiary grants or advanceable, refundable tax credits — but in both cases funds would go directly to the patient by being deposited into a Roth Health Savings Account.
Design an Alternative Without Federal Assistance: States could choose to design and regulate insurance markets that work for their specific populations without any federal assistance.

","official_title":"A bill to improve patient choice by allowing States to adopt market-based alternatives to the Affordable Care Act that increase access to affordable health insurance and reduce costs while ensuring important consumer protections and improving patient care.","short_title":"Patient Freedom Act of 2017","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Patient Freedom Act of 2017\n\nThis bill provides states with three options regarding title I (provisions on health insurance reform, exchanges, and subsidies) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA): (1) continue implementing PPACA, with a limit on total premium and cost sharing subsidies provided in the state; (2) waive the requirements of title I of PPACA, with specified exceptions; or (3) the second option plus implementation of a Roth health savings account (HSA) deposit system. Only residents of states continuing to implement PPACA are eligible for PPACA premium subsidies.\n\nThe bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth provisions regarding Roth HSAs, which have annual contribution limits and are not subject to taxes. Contributions to Roth HSAs are not tax deductible.\n\nIn states implementing a Roth HSA deposit system, residents who are enrolled in health insurance coverage that meets state standards receive monthly deposits in their Roth HSAs. States that a...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"People who have or acquire health insurance; employers; health insurance providers; states; and the federal government.","argument_for":"This Obamacare replacement would empower states to design an alternative that meets their needs and ensure that some of its important consumer protections are preserved, while expanding access to affordable health insurance and giving consumers more options.","argument_against":"This bill doesn’t really repeal Obamacare, instead allowing states that like the status quo to keep things the way they are. 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Sens. Collins's & Cassidy's Plan to Replace Obamacare With the “Patient Freedom Act”