AHA: GOP plans to repeal ACA = FUBAR

Amy Goldstein in the Washington Post reports:

The nation’s hospital industry warned President-elect Donald Trump and congressional leaders on Tuesday that repealing the Affordable Care Act could cost hospitals $165 billion by the middle of the next decade and trigger “an unprecedented public health crisis.”

The two main trade groups for U.S. hospitals dispatched a letter to the incoming president and Capitol Hill’s top four leaders, saying that the government should help hospitals avoid massive financial losses if the law is rescinded in a way that causes a surge of uninsured patients.

More specifically:

Findings:

In modeling the repeal of the ACA as laid out in H.R. 3762, we found that between 2018 and 2026:

• The loss of coverage would have a net impact on hospitals of $165.8 billion with the restoration of Medicaid DSH reductions;

• The ACA Medicare reductions are maintained and hospitals will suffer additional losses of $289.5 billion from reductions in their inflation updates;

• Full restoration of Medicare and Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payment reductions embedded in ACA would amount to $102.9 billion.

...If the ACA is repealed, we estimate that the number of uninsured would increase by 22 million people by 2026 -- from a projected 28 million under the ACA to 50 million with repeal. This reversal of coverage would represent an unprecedented public health crisis as individuals would lose their insurance coverage and no longer be able to follow their prescribed regimen of care. In addition, reduced Medicare and Medicaid DSH payments, if not restored in a repeal bill, would present serious challenges to hospitals, which would have to absorb the cost of uncompensated care associated with these newly uninsured individuals who need and receive hospital care.

How many different ways can it be stated?