What changes to the ACA could do to impact locals

It’s one of the biggest topics everyone across the county has been talking about – the House republicans released a 123-page bill that would replace parts of the Affordable Care Act.

In fact, this is still so newly released, don’t feel bad if you’re having trouble wrapping your mind around everything encompassed in this new proposal – or better yet, if you’re still trying to sift through the 20,000 pages that lay-out the Affordable Care Act.

U.S. Senator Jim Risch told us today this is just the beginning to a long process in the republican effort to make healthcare affordable for more Americans.

“This is a start and it’s a work in progress,” Risch said. “We are working as quickly as we can, but right now it’s much more important to do this right than to do this quickly.”

However, this has drawn controversy across the nation, with many voicing concern the new bill could make healthcare less affordable for those who are already enrolled.

On Wednesday, we reached out to local business owners, hospitals, and even doctors – some did not want to comment without fully knowing what these changes will mean for them, and others wanted to stay away from the political heat currently happening over this proposal.

President and CEO of University Financial Group Lance Kolbet said this is such an expansive issue, it could impact both consumers and insurance agents in several ways – some aspects of the bill could be good for one party, while it could be costly to another.

Risch said, there’s some truth to that, depending on how you look at it.

“Are you a glass half-empty or half-full kind of person? If you’re looking for something to be against in this bill, you could sure find it. If you’re looking to be for something in this bill, you could sure find that. The question is – how do we balance those? And at the end of the day, we want something that is better than what we already have,” Risch said.

One aspect of the bill would decrease the role of government in the healthcare system, and instead leave it up to the consumers.

“We’re seeing a lot more consumerism injected into the healthcare system, and I think it’s becoming even more so,” Kolbet said.

He said the new bill will allow healthcare to be sold across state lines. This means Idahoans could see a lot more insurance companies coming into town, which would drastically change the market.

“It will be like the wild west of healthcare,” Kolbet described.

He said consumers and physicians will end up paying in the end since there will be more insurance companies battling it out to cut the best deal with providers. This means, patients could probably see their doctors fall out of their network coverage, so they’ll either have to pay full price to keep seeing their same doctor or find a new one. He said, because of this, doctors might end up not making as much as they used to.

“The doctors and hospitals sign agreements with almost all of your insurance companies. But their discounts and the concessions they make will be dictated by the number of insureds you would have in that market,” Kolbet informed.

Risch said the bill is being reviewed by the committees in the House before it goes before the Senate. The same bill has to pass both houses and if it doesn’t, then it will go to a conference committee where differences between the two bills will be reconciled before heading back for a final vote.

You can read the full context of the bill here: https://housegop.leadpages.co/healthcare/