McClatchy News
BY VERA BERGENGRUEN
May 5, 2017
WASHINGTON
The health care bill that Republicans in the House of Representatives passed this week could strip 7 million veterans of tax credits and place many of them in high-risk pools by classifying post-traumatic stress disorder as a pre-existing condition.
Democrats seized on those possible effects to slam Republicans, saying they had voted for a bill that would, if it became law, end up punishing millions of veterans, a group that President Donald Trump fervently vowed to support during his campaign.
“This is not fear mongering, This is not hyperbole,” said Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., who is a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “This bill jeopardizes health care for up to 7 million veterans, and everyone should oppose it.”
The House passed the American Health Care Act on Thursday by a narrow 217-213 vote and sent it to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. The complaints of veterans are unlikely to help its chances of ultimate approval.
The bill offers Americans tax credits that they can use to buy private insurance – as long as they are not eligible for other low-cost government health care options. That’s the catch for veterans, who are eligible for medical care offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
That means that an estimated 7 million veterans who qualify for VA health care benefits but elect not to take them would be ineligible for the tax credits.
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WFT is wrong with these politicians? Kill off the Affordable Care Act and the VA by closing VA hospitals at the same time they pull this stunt?
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