On May 4, 2017, members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted 217-213 to pass the American Health Care Act (AHCA), after it had been amended several times.

If it passes both the House and the Senate, the AHCA would then go to President Donald Trump to be signed into law.

The AHCA will now move on to be considered by the Senate. It is likely that the Senate will make changes to the proposed legislation before taking a vote. The AHCA would only need a simple majority vote in the Senate to pass.

However, unless the AHCA is passed by the Senate and signed by President Trump, the ACA will remain intact.

The AHCA is budget reconciliation legislation, so it cannot fully repeal the ACA. Instead it is limited to addressing ACA provisions that directly relate to budgetary issues—specifically, federal spending and taxation. A full repeal of the ACA must be introduced as a separate bill that would require 60 votes in the Senate to pass.

Since the AHCA was introduced, it has been amended several times. To address concerns raised by both Democrats and fellow Republicans, the House Republican leadership released amendments to the legislation on March 20, 2017, followed by a second set of amendments on March 23, 2017. On March 23, 2017, House leadership withdrew the AHCA before taking a vote. After the withdrawal, Republicans made additional amendments (the MacArthur amendments) to the AHCA, followed by a separate corrective amendment. A new House vote was scheduled for May 4, 2017, which resulted in a 217 to 213 vote to pass the AHCA.

The AHCA will now move on to be considered by the Senate. It is likely that the Senate will make changes to the proposed legislation before taking a vote. The AHCA would only need a simple majority vote in the Senate to pass. However, unless the AHCA is passed by the Senate and signed by President Trump, the ACA will remain intact.

The majority of the ACA would not be affected by the AHCA. The MacArthur amendments specifically maintain most of the ACA’s market reforms. For example, the following key ACA provisions would remain in place:

Age rating restrictions would also continue to apply, with the age ratio limit being revised to 5:1 (instead of 3:1), and states would be allowed to set their own limits. The MacArthur amendments also reinstate EHBs as the federal standard, eliminating a prior controversial amendment to the AHCA, although states may obtain waivers from these rules.

This ACA Compliance Bulletin is not intended to be exhaustive nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as legal advice. Readers should contact legal counsel for legal advice.
© 2017 Zywave, Inc. All rights reserved.