Republicans' ACA Alternative: An Analysis

Senators Richard Burr (NC) and Orrin Hatch (UT), and Representative Fred Upton (MI) released, on February 4th, an update to the Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility, and Empowerment Act (Patient CARE Act).  The white paper proposes a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and replaces the coverage provisions with alternative policy suggestions.[1] Key provisions include a premium credit for all individuals earning less than 300 percent of the federal poverty limit, a cap on tax-exempt income spent on employer sponsored health insurance, and a capped allotment funding design for Medicaid. This report is an update to the Center for Health and Economy’s (H&E) analysis of the previous version of the Patient CARE Act published in 2014. This analysis updates findings of the H&E Under-65 Microsimulation Model on the Patient CARE Act’s impact on health insurance premium prices, insurance coverage, provider access, medical productivity, and the federal budget.