Affordable Care Act Defense Bill Nears House Floor

House leaders could bring H.R. 986, the Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019 bill, to the House floor this week.

If passed and implemented as written, H.R. 986 would keep federal agencies from using the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Section 1332 waiver program to adjust ACA benefits rules or underwriting rules.

The administration of President Donald Trump has proposed calling the ACA Section 1332 waiver program the State Relief and Empowerment Waivers program (SREW), and using the SREW program to let states take steps, such as setting up new reinsurance programs, or using short-term health insurance or other products other than ACA-compliant major medical insurance, to try to expand access to health coverage.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-N.H.

The House Rules Committee is preparing to meet at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time today to package the bill for action on the House floor.

Rules members have proposed 25 amendments.

One, proposed by a Republican, would rename H.R. 986 "the Anti-State Innovation Act" bill.

Another draft amendment, proposed by a Democrat, would call for the U.S. Government Accountability Office to report on how SREW waivers might affect mental health care and treatment.

Resources

Links to information about the House Rules Committee meeting on H.R. 986, including a copy of the bill text and copies of the proposed amendments, are available here.

House Rules usually streams videos of its meetings live on the web, and it usually posts recordings of the videos on its website after the meetings are over.

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