As Senate Republicans work on creating an ACA replacement bill, there appears to be burgeoning agreement on at least one issue — Americans' tax credits to buy insurance, reports Politico.
Here are six things to know.
1. House Republicans previously proposed tying tax credits, which help people pay insurance premiums, to age. However, Senators have shown growing support of an approach more similar to the ACA, where the tax credits are based on income, according to the report.
2. The House plan approved last week would phase out tax credits at 800 percent of the federal poverty level, or $75,000 for an individual and $115,000 for a married couple, reports Politico. Tax credits would also increase with age.
3. A plan proposed by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., would instead phase out tax credits at 621 percent of the federal poverty level, or $74,907 for a family of four, although the tax credits would be bigger, according to the report.
4. The financial assistance in the House-approved American Health Care Act "is just not robust enough to make sure that low-income individuals can actually afford a [health] plan," Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said, reports Politico. "If you bring those income limits down for people who really need the help, you can give them more help."
5. Under the Sen. Thune's plan, people between the ages of 50 and 64 would also see additional assistance, but the report notes the specifics of this assistance are unclear.
6. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., told Politico tax credits have not been addressed by a 13-member group working on the healthcare bill, but they will be in the future.