Under the GOP’s health bill, high-income families are more likely to reap gains, while low-income families could see their health-costs rise, according to a new study.
The analysis from the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center reviewed the changes that would come about under the proposed Senate bill to determine the impacts on families of differing incomes. The changes considered were a reduction in revenue, cuts to Medicare, and reductions taxes and in subsidies for low-income people who use private insurers.
The average family with an income less than $10,000 in 2026 would be $2,550 worse off, a reduction of more than 60 percent of the family’s income, the study said.
Meanwhile, the average family with an income more than $200,000 in 2026 would be $5,420 better off, a net increase of 1 percent. And for the average family with an income over $1 million in 2026, they would be $49,000 better off, a 1.5 percent increase in income.
With the tax cuts proposed in the bill, known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act, high-income families would benefit the most. Families with incomes over $200,000 would receive 84.6 percent of the tax reductions in 2026. And families with incomes over $1 million would receive 58.9 percent of tax reductions.
Meanwhile, lower-income families would bear the brunt of the bill’s proposed reductions in federal funding for health benefits. Families with incomes below $30,000 would sustain nearly three quarters of the total losses in health benefits.
The Senate republicans have yet to gather enough support to pass their Obamacare replacement bill. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said a revised version of the bill is expected to come Thursday morning.
The groups who conducted the study did an earlier analysis after the House passed their health-care bill in May.
Read the full report here.