A little-noticed amendment to the Obamacare repeal effort now before the House would let U.S. employers gut health coverage, The Wall Street Journal reported. Such a provision would affect about half the country, and the amendment lets states obtain waivers from certain Affordable Care Act regulations, freeing insurers from a mandate stipulating that they cover 10 types of health services, including prescription drugs, mental-health treatment, hospitalization, and maternity care, and set lifetime limits. βItβs huge,β said Andy Slavitt, the former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. βTheyβre creating a backdoor way to gut employer plans, too.β Still, other experts said the impact would be much smaller. βThe real question is, would employers do this? Many wouldnβt,β said Larry Levitt, who serves as a senior vice president for the Kaiser Family Foundation. βMany employers offer quality benefits to attract employees. But employers are always looking for ways to lower costs.β The House is set to vote on the measure Thursday.
Another hidden "gem" in Trumpcare that screws Americans who are lucky enough to get covered at work #VoteNoAHCAhttps://t.co/j8kd6QqVH0 pic.twitter.com/igriBymZjs
— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) May 4, 2017