How new health care bill will change current health system if it passes By Associated Press, adapted by Newsela staff on 05.08.17 Word Count 728 Level 800L President Donald Trump (left), accompanied by Republicans members of the House of Representatives, speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 4, 2017, after the House pushed through a health care bill. AP Photo/Evan Vucci Republicans made a new push this week to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare." "Obamacare" was created under President Obama, a Democrat. Republicans, the other main political group in the United States, have been trying to replace it. They wrote their own health care plan. Congress was going to vote on it in March. It was pulled at the last minute, however. It was not going to get enough votes. Republicans made a change to their plan. Last week, lawmakers voted on it. It passed the House of Representatives, one of the two chambers of Congress. The bill will need to be approved in the Senate and signed by the president before it can become a law. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1
Republicans are very happy with the bill. However, health care experts think it will hurt people who are sick. Insurance is needed in the United States to pay for doctor's visits and medicine. It is like a pool of money that many people pay into. They pay money when they are healthy. When they become sick, they get to use the money. Without insurance, health care is very expensive. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2
Sick People Will Have A Hard Time Getting Insurance People who already have health problems used to have a hard time getting insurance. These people have what are called "pre-existing conditions," which can be expensive to treat. Insurance companies did not want to cover these people. They could be turned away or charged more money. Obama's Affordable Care Act made this illegal. As a result, insurance companies can no longer turn these people away. That means that everyone can get insurance, even if they are sick. Under the Republican plan, that would change. People who already have health problems would have to pay much more for their insurance. The Republican plan would give $8 billion to the states to help cover these people. The money would go into what is called a "high-risk pool." As it stands, the plan leaves many decisions up to the states. Republicans often support putting more power in the hands of state and local governments. This is especially true when it comes to issues like the environment, education, and health care. Republicans And Democrats Have Different Opinions About Health Insurance Democrats generally support more government involvement in health care. Republicans do not think the government should require everyone to buy health insurance. They generally believe people should be able to choose what they pay for. Democrats tend to support the idea that every person should have access to the medical care they need. It should be available at a price people can afford, which means the government will have to step in to help cover the costs. The "high-risk pools" in the Republican plan are not new. Before "Obamacare," more than 30 states had them. The pools did not have enough money to cover all of their patients' medical expenses. States had to use fees and taxes to make up the difference. Also, the pools had long waiting lists which meant that some patients could not get the care they needed in time. A health care group called Avalere studied the Republican plan. It found that the money would only be enough to pay for high-risk pools in a few small states. It would not be enough to cover all of the people who already have health problems. Health Care Expert Says 'It Just Won't Be Affordable' Still, it is hard to say just what the Republican plan would mean for patients. The bill is expected to change once it goes to the Senate. It also leaves some big health care decisions up to the states. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3
Larry Levitt is a health care expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation. He said that the Republican plan would make it very hard for sick people to get health care insurance. "It just won't be affordable," he said. Adrienne Standley works at a clothing company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She currently gets her health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Standley is afraid the Republican plan will mean she can no longer afford to go to the doctor. "I'm scared to lose coverage," she said. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4
Quiz 1 What are the MAIN ideas of this article? 1. Some experts think the new bill will make health insurance too expensive for sick people. 2. The Affordable Care Act was also called "Obamacare" because it was created under President Obama. 3. Over 30 states had "high-risk pools" before the creation of the Affordable Care Act. 4. Republicans plan to allow states to make decisions about covering people with pre-existing conditions. 1 and 2 1 and 4 2 and 3 2 and 4 2 What is a MAIN goal of the new bill? to remove "high-risk pools" from health care to involve the government more in health care to ask healthy people to pay for health coverage to allow people to choose if they want health coverage 3 What do Democrats and Republicans DISAGREE about in the article? whether people should be required to buy insurance whether insurance is helpful for paying for medicine whether people with health problems need insurance whether doctor visits should be covered by health insurance 4 Which of the following people or groups would MOST likely be happy with the new bill? the health care group Avalere Republicans in the House of Representatives Adrienne Standley Larry Levitt This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 5
Answer Key 1 What are the MAIN ideas of this article? 1. Some experts think the new bill will make health insurance too expensive for sick people. 2. The Affordable Care Act was also called "Obamacare" because it was created under President Obama. 3. Over 30 states had "high-risk pools" before the creation of the Affordable Care Act. 4. Republicans plan to allow states to make decisions about covering people with pre-existing conditions. 1 and 2 1 and 4 2 and 3 2 and 4 2 What is a MAIN goal of the new bill? to remove "high-risk pools" from health care to involve the government more in health care to ask healthy people to pay for health coverage to allow people to choose if they want health coverage 3 What do Democrats and Republicans DISAGREE about in the article? whether people should be required to buy insurance whether insurance is helpful for paying for medicine whether people with health problems need insurance whether doctor visits should be covered by health insurance 4 Which of the following people or groups would MOST likely be happy with the new bill? the health care group Avalere Republicans in the House of Representatives Adrienne Standley Larry Levitt This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 6