WASHINGTON: Repu­blican lawmakers unveiled a new health plan on Thursday to scrap the ObamaCare, which provides health insurance to millions of poor Americans.

Earlier this week, the new Republican-dominated Congress adopted its first bicameral proposal, which calls for the outright repeal of President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.

The proposed plan — the Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility and Empowerment Act — favours insurance companies and high-income groups.

The law has enabled millions of Americans who could not afford health insurance to get health coverage.

Under the Republican plan, individuals would no longer be required to buy healthcare coverage and employers would no longer be required to offer it.

The Republican plan, however, would keep two of the most popular provisions of ObamaCare: the protections for people with pre-existing conditions and the rule that allows young adults to stay on their parent’s plans until age 26.

Senators Orrin Hatch and Richard Burr and Congressman Fred Upton, who drafted the new plan, acknowledged that they could “not return to the status quo of the pre-ObamaCare world”.

The new plan does not say how it would help the rest of the 10 million people who have purchased ObamaCare plans make the transition away from the government programme.

Earlier, three Republican lawmakers voted against their party’s decision and opted to keep ObamaCare.Under the new plan, if a patient with pre-existing condition to fails pay his or her premium for a couple of months; insurers can cancel the coverage.

The Republican plan also eliminates ObamaCare’s employer mandate requiring businesses with 50 or more full-time employees to offer health insurance or pay a penalty.

It also reduces subsidies for people above poverty level but still in the low-income bracket.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play