via The Washington Post by By Michelle Ye Hee Lee
The Facts
Under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, premium tax credits help make health insurance more affordable. In general, this premium is not available for people who otherwise are eligible to enroll in other “minimum essential coverage,” like government-sponsored health care. (For veterans, that would include VA health care.)
But veterans’ health care is unique. For example, not all veterans qualify for VA care, and not all veterans who are eligible for VA care actually enroll.
So the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department came up with a regulation to make an exemption, allowing veterans and their dependents to choose whether to get VA coverage or enroll in coverage through the Obamacare exchange. They can choose to be on the exchange, and receive premium tax credits for it, even if they are eligible for VA care. As our friends at PolitiFact noted, the number of uninsured veterans declined significantly after Obamacare took effect.
The Republican replacement bill initially contained this provision. But it was removed in the version that ultimately passed the House, in order to help its chances of moving through the Senate using a parliamentary procedure that would require no Democratic votes.
Proponents of the bill say that nothing will change for veterans. The legislation “makes no changes to veterans’ health care. Unless they are specifically enrolled in and receiving insurance through the VA, they are eligible for our tax credit,” House Ways and Means Committee spokeswoman Lauren Aronson said.
The complete story here > Nancy Pelosi’s claim that ‘seven million veterans will lose their tax credit’ under the GOP health bill