House GOP Health Plan: What's the Deal?

The House Republicans are gearing up to vote on their health care bill, but the big question is what happens to the extra help people get to pay for their health insurance.

Key Issues and Amendments

The bill doesn't tackle this key issue, but there's talk about adding an amendment to extend the help. Even so, it's likely to disappear at the end of the year because the Senate isn't planning to vote on any health care stuff this week.

Financial Impact

If this extra help goes away, people will have to pay a lot more for their insurance. We're talking about a whopping 114% increase, or around $1,000 more per year by 2026. Plus, about 2 million more people might end up without insurance next year.

What's in the Bill?

The House GOP health care bill is a mix of old and new ideas:

Small Business and Self-Employed Insurance Pools

Allows small businesses and self-employed individuals to join together to buy health insurance.
Aimed at making premiums cheaper.
These plans might not cover as much as Obamacare plans.
Can charge older people more, which isn't great for those who need more health care.

Brings back federal funding for cost-sharing subsidies.
Helps lower-income people pay less out of pocket for their health care.
Funding these subsidies would lower the help people get to pay for their insurance, so their monthly payments would go up.
It's a bit of a trade-off, and not everyone is happy about it.

Pharmacy Benefit Managers

Aims to make pharmacy benefit managers more transparent.
These middlemen negotiate drug prices, and the bill wants them to share more info with employers.
A step towards making the drug pricing process clearer, but experts say it might not make a big difference.

Employer Contributions

Makes it official for employers to give their workers tax-free money to buy insurance on the Obamacare exchange.
Critics worry this could lead to higher premiums and more risk for workers if their employer's contributions don't keep up.