The Senate ’ s Health Care Freedom Act

Editor’s Note: This post will be continually updated as debate in the Senate continues on July 27.  Update July 28, 1:41 am: After a vote to commit the bill to the HELP committee failed 48 to 52, the Senate voted on the HCFA. The vote failed 51 to 49 as Senators Collins, McCain, and Murkowski joined all 48 Democrats in voting against the bill. Senator McConnell then stated that it would be returned to the calendar, meaning it can be brought back, but consideration then ends for tonight. Original Post At 10:00 p.m. on July 27, 2017, Senator McConnell introduced amendment 502, his Health Care Freedom Act. The bill is indeed skinny, only eight pages in length. It would: Repeal the individual mandate penalty effective December 31, 2015; Repeal the employer mandate penalty (but not reporting requirements) effective December 31, 2015, but only through 2024; Extend the moratorium on the medical device tax from December 31, 2017 to December 31, 2020; Increase maximum contributions to health care savings accounts (HSA) to the amount of the deductible and out-of-pocket limitations for HSA-eligible high-deductible health plans ($6,650 individual, $13,300 families for 2018) for three years, 2018 to 2020; Ban payments for one years to Planned Parenthood and any Planned Parenthood-like organization (the CBO says there is one) that received federal and state payments in 2014 that exceeded $1,000,000; Repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund after 2018; Increase Community Health...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Following the ACA Source Type: blogs