plan of action - july 5, 2017

 NO to Cruz’s Amendment to the
Better Care Reconciliation Act
Also: JUST NO

Ted Cruz has added an amendment to the Better Care (ha!) Reconciliation Act (their dumb name for repeal-and-replace) which has an extremely negative effect. It would allow insurers to offer two kinds of plans, one where the medically-risky pay the same as the healthy, and the other where they can be charged more. Low-income individuals would be given a subsidy. BUT (taken from a Forbes Magazine article):

It's hardly unreasonable, I think to imagine that in BCRA world with the Cruz amendment a "Bronze" community rated policy -- one that covered you and priced you regardless of medical condition -- would cost a 40 year old $10,000 per year.  Suppose our individual earns $40,000 per year. Under section 102 of the BCRA, that individual would be entitled to a subsidy of $5442, meaning the net premium would be $4,558 (about 11.4% of pre-tax income): a big-time stretch but perhaps affordable. Suppose, however, our 40 year old gets a raise or finds a better-paying job such that their income goes up by 5% to $42,000. Because Republicans cut off the subsidy if income exceeds 350% of the "applicable federal poverty limit" ($11,880), now the subsidy completely disappears and the same policy costs $10,000, something our individual almost certainly can not afford. In essence a 272% tax has been imposed on the individual's raise.

Action:

1. NO to the Cruz amendment - because of the INCOME CLIFF as described in the Forbes article above.
2. NO to the Better Care Reconciliation Act ALTOGETHER because it will RAISE PREMIUMS. See this article in Business Insider.

Call your senators to express these views. Call Cruz.  If you have time, also keep pushing the ten swing senators - pick a state where you live, are near, or have the most friends - call, email, Tweet.