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Republicans in the US House of Representatives have unveiled long-awaited legislation to repeal much of the Obamacare healthcare law, including its expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor.
President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans in Congress repeatedly promised to repeal and replace former Democratic president Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement known as the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
- Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress in 2010
- Promised to help tens of millions of uninsured Americans get health coverage
- Under the plan, people can buy cheap insurance on healthcare.gov
- Most coverage will cost less than $US100 per month
- Policies vary according to person's income, location, family size and level of coverage desired
- More than 10 million people now have medical cover under the laws
- Number of uninsured adults reduced by 26 per cent
It was not immediately clear if the bill had enough support to pass the Republican-led Congress. It goes next to two House committees for review.
The proposal would freeze enrolment in Obamacare's expanded Medicaid program on January 1, 2020.
States that expanded Medicaid could still sign up individuals until the end of 2019, and continue to receive enhanced federal funds for them thereafter, Republican aides said. But going forward, federal funds for Medicaid would be capped.
While eliminating the income-based subsidies for purchasing insurance under Obamacare, the proposal would instead offer age-based refundable tax credits. Those would be capped at upper-income levels, Republican aides said.
The proposal would repeal most Obamacare-levied taxes in January 2018 and immediately repeal the penalty for the individual and employer mandates to buy insurance.
It would not, however, cap the existing tax exemption for employer-sponsored health insurance, although some lawmakers had favoured that.
"Our legislation transfers power from Washington back to the American people," House Ways and Means chairman Kevin Brady said in a statement.
Democrats have warned Republicans risk throwing the entire US healthcare system into chaos by repealing the Obamacare law that was passed by congressional Democrats over united Republican opposition.
The law enabled about 20 million previously uninsured people to get medical insurance.
Reuters
Topics: government-and-politics, world-politics, united-states