House Freedom Caucus leaders back new health-care plan

[progree]

12. Re: cutting some benefits in order to lower premiums ...

GOP plan to trim insurance benefits might not tame premiums, Kaiser Health News · Apr 21, 2017

At the heart of those negotiations (amongst Republicans) is the (ACA) law's requirement that most insurance plans offer 10 specific categories of "essential health benefits." They include hospital care, doctor and outpatient visits and prescription drug coverage, along with things like maternity care, mental health and preventive care services.

Opponents of the required benefits point to coverage for maternity care and mental health and substance abuse treatment as things that drive up premiums for people who will never use such services.

But eliminating those benefits wouldn't have much of an impact, Bayram says. Hospital care, doctor visits and prescription drugs "are the three big ones," she says. "Unless they were talking about ditching those, the other ones only have a marginal impact."

... Maternity care and mental health and substance abuse, he says, "are probably less than 5 percent" of premium costs.

Much more: a good read: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/04/21/npr-gop-plan-to-trim-insurance-benefits-might-not-tame-premiums