Two Bay State U.S. Reps. are warning veterans could be hurt by passage of the Republican version of Obamacare for non-VA medical care.
The American Health Care Act would prevent veterans eligible for VA health care from receiving tax credits if they are forced to buy outside insurance, U.S. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch said on Herald Radio’s “Morning Meeting” show yesterday.
“There’s a provision in there that says if a veteran is eligible for VA health care — and that’s basically all veterans that served honorably — then they are not eligible for the tax credits for health care that they may have to turn to the private market for,” Lynch said. “It’s wrong for (Republicans) to penalize veterans.”
Under the AHCA, which Lynch voted against Thursday, federal subsidies for insurance would be replaced by tax credits as the principal way to reduce the cost of health care.
But the provision, Lynch said, would leave veterans out of luck for non-VA medical procedures. Lynch highlighted the case of U.S. Marine Brian Callahan who, the Herald reported this week, was on MassHealth when MGH doctors told him about a brain mass VA doctors had missed.
“He would not get a tax credit to defer the cost of the procedure,” Lynch said.
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a Marine veteran, echoed Lynch’s concerns.
“This is one of the major issues with this new health-care plan, that 7 million veterans — according to the latest estimates — are going to be kicked off their health care coverage,” he said. “That means they’ll be on the street with no health care coverage.”
