Prevent Blindness Letter to Senate Finance Committee Provides Strong Recommendations on the New American Health Care Act
Prevent Blindness issued comments in response to a Request for Information from Senator Orrin Hatch, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, pertaining to the Senate’s efforts to draft companion legislation to the House-passed American Healthcare Act (AHCA).
In its recommendations for healthcare reform, Prevent Blindness urges the Senate to maintain the essential health benefits, which includes vision screenings and eye examinations for children and chronic disease management for adults, as defined under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), to maintain Medicaid as expanded to ensure a vital lifeline to our nation’s most vulnerable, and to implement income-based tax credits as opposed to age-based tax credits to ensure that aging Americans prioritize their vision and eye health.
The Senate is currently in the process of drafting legislation designed to replace certain elements of the ACA. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the agency charged with determining the economic projections and cost of legislation, today released a new analysis of the AHCA. The CBO has projected that 23 million fewer Americans would be covered under the AHCA by 2026, including 14 million Americans starting in 2018.
Read the full text of the Prevent Blindness Letter to the Senate Finance Committee
Read the CBO Report on the AHCA