American healthcare act unaffordable for older adults

If the health care bill passed this month by the House of Representatives becomes law, older consumers will end up paying a whole lot more for their health insurance. How much more? It

varies by state. In California, a 55-year-old with $25,000 in income could pay on average as much as $8,598 more a year than today. That same consumer could have to pay $5,920 more in

Louisiana, $6,670 more in Iowa, $6,975 more in Colorado and $7,602 more in Maine.  Alaskans face the biggest increase: up to $18,533 more. That’s according to an analysis by the AARP Public

Policy Institute, which compares premiums governed by current law with premiums calculated under the House bill to replace the Affordable Care Act if it became law today. “The bill affects

real people, and we wanted to make sure that everybody understood how their premiums would be affected by the bill,” says Lina Walker, the institute’s vice president of health security. “For

most of the states, residents will see significant increases if they are 50 or older.” The House bill, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), includes two changes to current law that would

affect annual premiums. First, it would increase the amount insurers can charge older consumers. Right now, insurers in most states can’t charge older adults more than three times the amount

that younger people pay. But the House would raise that cap to five times what younger people pay. And states could waive that cap and let insurers charge even more, leaving older Americans

vulnerable to skyrocketing premiums. The analysis also takes into account another change that would hurt older consumers: The House bill would lower the amount of individual tax credits

that help low- to moderate-income people buy insurance on state-sponsored health care exchanges. More than 3 million older consumers rely on tax credits to buy coverage on the health care

exchanges. Within this group, here’s how much more, on average, a 55-year-old with an income of $25,000 could pay in annual premiums in each state: Alabama $6,272 to $ 7,161 Alaska   

$17,964 to $18,533 Arizona    $7,407 to $13,288 Arkansas     $2,209 to $2,557 California   $1,126 to $8,598 Colorado $2,368 to $6,975 Connecticut   $4,685 to $6,967 Delaware*  $5,173

District of Columbia* $2,237 Florida    $2,866 to $9,750 Georgia    $2,956 to $7,457 Hawaii*  $3,578 Idaho $3,256 to $4,154 Illinois   $3,703 to $9,186 Indiana $1,641 to $3,329 Iowa  $4,002

to  $6,670 Kansas $4,002 to $4,644 Kentucky $2,538 to $4,938 Louisiana  $4,958 to $5,920 Maine  $4,270 to $7,602 Maryland  $2,373 to $2,825 Massachusetts †  ($317 to $1,030 decrease)

Michigan  $1,612 to $7,311 Minnesota $3,758 to $8,394 Mississippi  $2,956 to $3,666 Missouri  $3,912 to $7,462 Montana  $6,182 to $6,730 Nebraska  $2,239 to $10,651 Nevada $4,808 to $6,398

New Hampshire* $1,339 New Jersey*  $4,526 New Mexico  $1,492 to $7,582 New York † ($612 decrease) to an increase of $1,061 North Carolina   $8,124 to $9,803 North Dakota  $3,404 to $3,688

Ohio  $1,552 to $6,081 Oklahoma  $7,467 to $9,849 Oregon  $3,374 to $6,804 Pennsylvania $4,569 to $8,473 Rhode Island*  $1,194 South Carolina  $4,330 to $5,281 South Dakota  $5,973 to $6,508

Tennessee   $6,302 to $10,058 Texas $2,597 to $9,307 Utah* $3,583 Vermont*  †  $700 Virginia                                $2,687 to $3,889 Washington                              $281 to

$2,364 West Virginia                           $6,332 to $8,482 Wisconsin                               $3,882 to $5,900 Wyoming                                 $7,139 to $7,272 *In smaller

states, average premiums typically don’t vary from one part of the state to another. † In these states, older adults pay either the same premium or twice what younger adults pay. _For more

on how the AHCA would affect residents in your state, click here._