iStock/Thinkstock(MONROE, N.C.) — After voting for the first time at the age of 55, for Trump, Martha Brawley is worried that the main issue that brought her to the polls — health insurance coverage — is going to become worse.
The Monroe, North Carolina, resident said she fears the new Republican health bill will significantly raise her premiums.
“I’m 55. This is the first time in my life I voted and I voted for Trump hoping that he would change the insurance, so I could get good health care,” Brawley told ABC News. “I might as well have not voted.”
She first spoke to the New York Times about her concern that she would receive thousands less in tax credits to help her buy health care coverage under the proposed American Health Care Act (AHCA), dubbed “Trumpcare.”
Brawley reportedly receives approximately $8,688 in health care subsidies to pay for insurance, but under the proposed bill would receive $3,500 a year in tax credits, according to the New York Times.
AARP, the interest group that advocates for senior citizens, shares the concern. The organization sent a letter to Congress Tuesday saying the proposed bill would “dramatically increase health care costs for Americans aged 50-64.”
Many seniors could face a significant increase in health care premiums, since insurance companies will be allowed to charge seniors five times as much as a younger person for a comparable plan. Under the current Affordable Care Act (ACA), they are limited to charging three times as much.
The new tax credits proposed in the AHCA, which will be dispensed based mainly on age and income, would also be fewer for older Americans compared to the ACA, making the insurance even more expensive.
“Taken together, premiums for older adults could increase by as much as $3,600 for a 55-year old earning $25,000 a year, $7,000 for a 64-year old earning $25,000 a year and up to $8,400 for a 64-year old earning $15,000 a year,” AARP officials said in their letter. The group said a typical senior seeking insurance on the state exchange has an income under $25,000.
David Certner, legislative counsel and legislative policy director for government affairs at AARP, said the plan will “stunningly raise” premiums for older Americans.
“This is a national problem in terms of the fact that the older and lower income you are, the bigger the premium hike,” Certner told ABC News.
On ABC News’ Good Morning America, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, said “our goal is to make certain costs come down.”
In response to Brawley’s complaints about her potential insurance cost increase, Price raised the issue of choice.
“We want to make sure she is able to select physician and treatment that she wants,” he said.
When pressed about whether he could guarantee coverage for Brawley, Price cited other aspects of the proposal including state grants and said “you can’t pick out one individual and say that individual isn’t going to be able to get coverage. Right now people are losing coverage. We have a plan that will allow individuals to pick the coverage that they want and … the physician and treatment model that they want.”
Brawley said she isn’t convinced lawmakers understand her challenges and she is waiting to see what happens.
“All these people who talk in politics have insurance. People like me don’t,” Brawley told ABC News. “They can talk big and all we can do is step back and hope for the best. We are at their mercy.”
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