Paul Ryan’s plan to alter “Obama care” is happening. However, the American Health Care Act (AHCA) or “Ryancare,” has hit political snags, Ryancare struggled in the U.S. Senate as some GOP senators expressed concern about the Congressional Budget Office report indicating that health coverage will be compromised for millions of Americans.
The report might be a little alarming for those working in injury claims. The CBO report points out that the elderly with lower incomes don’t do so well under this new act. Insurance companies will be allowed to increase insurance rates and impose tax credits cuts that will impact lower income and the elderly.
The report assesses 14 million more people will not be insured under this law by 2018. And, that number will continue to jump in 2020 to 21million.
Potential consequences for workers’ comp
No one is certain what the consequences might be as there is no mention of workers’ comp in Ryancare. It appears it was not directly addressed. Furthermore, it appears that it would urge countless workers to obtain a treatment for a variety of conditions through workers’ comp.
If the currently insured lose that coverage, there’s a high probability they are going to pursue treatment however they can. This in turn may mean more claims as workers hunt to find a source of treatment. This might increase claim “severity” as some conditions often making work recovery injuries challenging.
While these inferences are difficult to measure and it’s all still raw, there’s no doubt any changes made will have important long term repercussions for workers’ comp.
