(Image: Allison Bell/ALM)
House Democrats are warning Republicans that letting the federal courts kill all of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could kill programs many Republicans like — such as the ACA provision that's closing the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan benefits "donut hole" — as well as the programs they commonly think of as "Obamacare."
House Democrats have put the warning in House Resolution 271, a measure that calls for the administration of President Donald Trump to end efforts to overturn the ACA.
Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, is the lead sponsor.
Members of the House Rules Committee are preparing to meet at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time today to package the resolution for action on the House floor.
The committee plans to stream live video of the hearing here.
A recording of the video will be available after the meeting ends.
The resolution could come up for a vote on the House floor any time this week, according to a bill consideration list posted by House leaders.
The ACA is made up of two statutes that were signed into law in 2010: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act.
Allred says in the text of H.Res. 271 that killing all of the ACA would hurt people using ACA Medicaid expansion coverage, and people with health problems, who might have no ability to buy individual major medical coverage in some states if the death of the ACA eliminated the federal ban on medical underwriting in the individual major medical market.
Allred also notes that killing all of the ACA would eliminate the ACA provisions that have been closing the Medicare Part D program benefits donut hole.
Before 2010, "Medicare enrollees faced massive out-of-pocket prescription drug costs once they reached a certain threshold known as the Medicare ''donut hole,' and since the donut hole began closing in 2010, millions of Medicare beneficiaries have saved billions of dollars on prescription drugs," Allred says in the resolution text.
"At a time when 3 in 10 adults report not taking prescribed medicines because of the cost, if the Trump administration succeeds in its argument before the court, seniors enrolled in Medicare would face billions of dollars in new prescription drug costs," Allred says.
Medicare Part D Donut Hole Primer
The Medicare Part D program sets a ceiling on coverage for ordinary drugs. Once participants reach the minimum level for catastrophic drug spending, then Medicare Part D plan catastrophic coverage kicks in.
For 2019, the cap on ordinary coverage is $3,820. The catastrophic spending level is $5,100 in out-of-pocket drug spending.
While enrollees are in the donut hole, they get a 75% discount on brand-name drugs and a 63% discount on generic drugs.
One goal of the donut hole system is to reduce government spending on drugs for patients who reach the donut hole.
