The Claim

The AHCA levies an “age tax” on older Americans, allowing insurers to charge 5 times more than younger patients.

The Facts

Obamacare created an arbitrary “age-rating” regulation that pushed health insurance markets into death spirals, increasing premiums for patients of all ages.  The AHCA allows age-rating regulations to reflect realistic costs of health care in order to help lower premiums for patients purchasing coverage in the individual market. Age-rating reform will not impact individuals on Medicare, Medicaid, or who receive their insurance from their employer or other federal programs.  But these reforms will encourage more young enrollees to purchase health insurance and improve the individual insurance market for everyone.

Take Maine, a state where the health care market was facing a long-term death spiral. To stabilize their market, Maine established an invisible high-risk pool and loosened their age ratio, both critical elements of the American Health Care Act.

“As a result of these changes, individuals in their early 20s were able to see premium savings of nearly $5,000 per year, while individuals in their 60s saw savings of more than $7,000,” a board member of Maine’s invisible high-risk pool wrote in Health Affairs. “As premiums dropped, more young and healthy applicants entered the market, total enrollment increased for the primary insurer in the market, and the individual market’s multi-year death spiral was finally reversed.”

Andy Barr Has Fought to Protect Seniors

• Voted to protect seniors from a federal agency that can cut payments to thousands of doctors, leaving millions of Medicare beneficiaries with even fewer health care options(February 6, 2018, Senate Amendment to H.R. 1892, Roll Call 60)
• Voted to protect seniors from a federal agency that strip away their Medicare benefits, in addition to the $80 billion Obamacare already took from Medicare beneficiaries (February 6, 2018, Senate Amendment to H.R. 1892, Roll Call 60)
• Voted a prevent unelected bureaucrats from significant axing Medicare benefits, impose taxes, and ration care to pay for Obamacare, affecting millions of vulnerable seniors(February 6, 2018, Senate Amendment to H.R. 1892, Roll Call 60)
• Voted to permanently extend Medicare payment cap exemptions for outpatient treatment, helping seniors receive care based on their health needs rather than on government quotas and caps(February 6, 2018, Senate Amendment to H.R. 1892, Roll Call 60)
• Voted to permanently extend Medicare Advantage Plans for seniors with special needs(February 6, 2018, Senate Amendment to H.R. 1892, Roll Call 60)
• Voted to promote essential health care access for 27 million Americans who live in rural areas. As of 2010,25.5 percent of the nation’s seniors live in rural areas, comprising 15.5 percent of the rural population. (February 6, 2018, Senate Amendment to H.R. 1892, Roll Call 60)
• Voted to increase tax relief for seniors strapped with high medical expenses(December 20, 2017, H.R. 1, Roll Call 699)
• Voted to double the standard deduction for seniors’ retirement income(December 20, 2017, H.R. 1, Roll Call 699)
• Voted to provide tax relief for seniors on fixed income to pay for rising cost in utilities and housing(December 20, 2017, H.R. 1, Roll Call 699)
• Voted to provide tax relief for most lower-income and middle class seniors trying to make ends meet (December 20, 2017, H.R. 1, Roll Call 699)
• Voted to increase the Child Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, helping seniors who have grandchildren as their dependents(December 20, 2017, H.R. 1, Roll Call 699)
• Voted to increase exemptions for the death tax, preventing grieving loved ones from getting hit with massive tax burdens and making it easier for seniors to prepare for their family’s financial future(December 20, 2017, H.R. 1, Roll Call 699)
• Voted to protect tax relief for Seniors age 65 or older and additional breaks for seniors with blindness(December 20, 2017, H.R. 1, Roll Call 699)
• Voted to block a $12 billion/year Obamacare tax on health insurance plans that could force seniors on fixed incomes to pay more in out-of-pocket premiums(January 22, 2018, House Amdt to Senate Amdt to H.R. 195,Roll Call 44)
• Voted to permanently repeal an Obamacare tax increase on medical expenses for seniors and middle-class families(September 13, 2016, 114^th Congress, H.R. 3590,Roll Call 502)
• Voted prevent a tax increase on middle class families with large out-of-pocket medical expenses(September 13, 2016, 114^th Congress, H.R. 3590,Roll Call 502)
• Voted prevent a tax increase on seniors with expensive medical bills(September 13, 2016, 114^th Congress, H.R. 3590,Roll Call 502)