GOP Health Care Plan Would Hit Older Californians Disproportionately

Covered California released an analysis Tuesday of how the GOP bill to replace the Affordable Care Act would affect the roughly 1.5 million Californians who buy insurance through its marketplace. Covered California found that the average subsidy under the Republican plan would amount to about 60 percent what is provided under current law, and that a “dramatic increase” in out-of-pocket costs for seniors will cause many to drop coverage. It also found that enrollees living in high cost areas like San Francisco would feel negative impacts. The report comes a day after the Congressional Budget Office concluded that the GOP bill would leave 24 million more people without health insurance by 2026. We look at the bill’s potential effects on California and the politics behind it.