AHIP CEO Budget Act: “We are very concerned about the impact on coverage”
AHIP, an advocacy group for health insurers, alerted the potential impact of budget settlement legislation in 2025, including significant cuts to Medicaid and individual markets.
“We are very concerned about the impact on certain recommended coverage, the impact on the coverage of people in the individual market, the impact on the coverage of Medicaid people,” said Mike Tuffin, president and CEO of AHIP. “People who are served by Medicaid are clinically complex. These people are often people with financial insecurities in their lives, people from working families, and often do really demanding jobs that come with no benefits. So we advocate stability for those who count on it.”
Tuffin made the comments at a press conference Tuesday at the AHIP 2025 conference in Las Vegas. After that, the Senate Finance Committee released a draft version of the bill on Monday, which included significant cuts to Medicaid, rather than House legislation passed in May. For example, the House bill would increase job requirements for Medicaid childless adults, but the Senate bill would extend it to parents of older children.
Medicaid job requirements mean that participants must verify that they are working, volunteering or going to school to obtain coverage. This is a proposed change proposed by AHIP.
“It’s a fundamental shift in Medicaid and expansion efforts today…plus a significant change in Medicaid financing, some changes to provider taxes and state-oriented payments. [These] During the briefing, Jeanette Thornton, executive vice president of policy and strategy at AHIP, said: “It does lead to some very significant cuts to Medicaid that we think will have a significant impact on coverage.”
Tuffin added that most Medicaid workers are already working.
AHIP is also concerned about the impact of the Budget Act on the individual market and the expiration of the Affordable Care Act that enhances the premium tax credit, which is set to end 2025.
“If the tax credit is allowed to expire, we are really worried that this market might be fundamentally cut,” Taffen said. “That’s when we have the potential to lose our Medicaid eligibility, they might run into a market of individuals with disrupted and higher premiums with fewer choices.”
Many Republicans believe that the proposed changes will address fraud, waste and abuse in health care. Thornton notes that while AHIP supports efforts to reduce fraud, waste and abuse, “it’s obvious that this goes beyond that” and will result in huge underwriting losses.
To prevent some of these changes, AHIP is doing “a lot of education and a lot of publicity”. The organization is meeting members of Congress and with patient advocates, healthcare providers, hospitals and employers. Some of its partners include the Modern Medicaid Alliance and allow Americans to cover up.
Photo: Claudenakagawa, Getty Images
