Ending healthcare mandate could leave 50,000 Mainers uninsured

Maine Public Broadcating - About 50,000 Mainers would lose health insurance under the proposed Senate Republican tax bill, according to progressive-leaning state and national policy organizations. They say the tax bill’s provision to eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate tugs at a thread that would significantly unravel the federal health law.

Both the Maine Center for Economic Policy and the Washington, D.C.-based Center for American Progress crunched the numbers from a Congressional Budget Office analysis to get state-specific data on the effect of repealing the individual mandate. They arrived at the same conclusion.

If the individual mandate is repealed, [analyst James Myall] says younger, healthier people will likely opt out of buying health insurance. That will leave older, sicker consumers in the marketplace. To cover the cost of their care, insurance companies will likely raise premiums.

The Center for American Progress estimates the average marketplace premium for a family in Maine will increase about $2,300. Steve Butterfield of Consumers for Affordable Health Care says that will wipe out any benefit the tax bill might provide middle class families.