SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO.COM) Insurance premiums could rise dramatically for some older Americans under the Republican plan to replace Obamacare.
"At age 60 in the new world, you are going to pay in 2020, $11,567 annually for the cost of your premiums. That's compared to $2,065 now." estimates Deb Muller with Avera Health Plans in Sioux Falls, using the example of a single man making just under $30,000 a year. She acknowledges that some of that could be offset by tax credits.
And Muller tells KELO Radio's It's Your Business Show that there is still a lot of work to be done on the replacement package and she expects additional changes when it gets from the U.S. House to the U.S. Senate.
It's extremely complicated legislation.
"Every piece of this is like looking at my nephew's Rubick's Cube," says Muller.
Muller says that roughly 40,000 South Dakotans are on Affordable Care Act plans so will experience the greatest impact from any changes. She says if they are 50 years or older, they likely will be paying more.
Governor Dennis Daugaard seems to have mixed feelings over the Obamacare replacement. He doesn't like the added risk of more Medicaid costs moving to the states, but does like that the states gain more control.
"Everyone goes back to a much less generous federal payment scheme and, hopefully, with much more control in the hands of the states," Daugaard tells KELO Radio's Greg Belfrage Show.
And Daugaard likes the GOP plan because it will restrain federal funding, although - who knows? - what the plan will look like in the end. The Governor expects several amendments when it reaches the U.S. Senate.