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Millions of Californians probably would lose health coverage under the Obamacare replacement bill released by House Republicans this week, experts say. The long-awaited GOP alternative removes the requirement that all Americans sign up for health insurance or pay a penalty, alters the amount of financial assistance offered for plans sold on the marketplaces and bans federal funding for Planned Parenthood. But what probably would affect the greatest number of Californians and raise the toughest questions for the state are proposed cuts to Medicaid, which covers more than a third of California’s residents. (Karlamangla, Mason and Myers, 3/7)

The bill dramatically reshapes the Medicaid program, known as TennCare in Tennessee. It would transition Medicaid from the federal match funding mechanism that is in place to a per capita program in which the state would get a lump sum per enrollee. A per capita cap is Gov. Bill Haslam's preference over a block grant, which is a set allotment to the state to run TennCare for a period of time, regardless of enrollment. A change to the funding mechanism, however, means states would have to make decisions on who or what benefits to cover. Right now, TennCare covers pregnant women, children and some people who are are disabled. Children are usually much cheaper to cover than other groups. (Fletcher, 3/7)

A section of the legislation pitched by Republicans in the U.S. House could open a path for people in the greater Knoxville area to access an insurance plan with a premium subsidy in 2018. The same provision would help people afford plans that cover Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the greater Nashville area. Premium tax credits could be used to purchase of "certain qualified health plans" off-exchange — where they are currently not available— under the legislation, which is called the American Health Care Act. (Fletcher, 3/7)

Hospital leaders and patient advocates say the bill, if passed, would lead to fewer people in Illinois with health insurance, creating a dangerous and costly situation for patients, hospitals and the state...Some hospital leaders and patient advocates in Illinois are nervous. A.J. Wilhelmi, president and CEO of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, said some Illinois residents might not be able to afford to continue buying coverage on the exchange under the House GOP plan. (Schencker, 3/7)

GOP lawmakers from the Philadelphia region said they were still reviewing the plan unveiled Monday night, neither supporting nor opposing a measure that could finally reshape the country’s health system to match Republicans’ vision and roll back much of what is widely called Obamacare. Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) said he was still combing through the 123-page measure: “I haven’t made a decision yet.” Rep. Tom MacArthur (R., N.J.) told a town hall audience Monday night that he was unsure how he would vote. He worried about changes that could limit the law’s Medicaid expansion, which, according to Gov. Christie, has helped cover 487,000 previously uninsured New Jerseyans, with federal funding that has saved the state $2 billion. (Tamari, 3/7)

The proposal prescribes a laundry list of changes to the 2010 health care package, better known as Obamacare. For Colorado, the most dramatic impact would be with Medicaid, a federal-state program that provides health insurance to disabled or low-income residents. Under the Affordable Care Act, states were allowed to expand the number of residents they cover through Medicaid — leading Colorado to add an estimated 407,000 residents to the rolls. The Republican plan would phase out this expansion starting in 2020 while changing the way the federal government pays for Medicaid by instituting a per-person cap — a switch that would mean “Colorado could expect less federal funding over the years,” according to the Colorado Health Institute, a local think tank. (Matthews, Frank and Ingold, 3/7)

As Congress debates the Republican proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act, Massachusetts is in a unique position. The state’s landmark 2006 health care overhaul resulted in near-universal coverage long before the federal law was enacted — so, no matter what Congress passes, it is likely to play out differently here. But Massachusetts is not immune to the tidal wave of change that could flow from the proposed legislation. In part, that’s because the state’s program now conforms to the federal Affordable Care Act, which the GOP plan would replace. (Freyer, 3/8)

Health care advocates and Democratic lawmakers in Maryland called a newly released GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act a threat to coverage for more than 400,000 state residents, while top Republicans, including Gov. Larry Hogan, argued that the law must be changed to preserve access to health insurance. "The governor doesn't want to see anyone losing health care," said Doug Mayer, Hogan's chief spokesman. "But he wants a system that works." (Cohn, 3/7)

Many policy watchers in Texas are worried that a reconfiguration in how people get help buying insurance will hit the poor and middle class hardest and lead to a spike in the state's already high uninsured rate...The long-awaited Republican plan, unveiled Monday evening, calls not only for elimination of the mandates that require people to carry insurance — a hallmark of the existing Affordable Care Act — but also propose swapping income-based federal subsidies to help people afford buy insurance for a refundable tax credit system that is age-based, with the amount of assistance rising as people age and presumably use more health care. (Deam, 3/7)

While Texas state leaders and legislators have been calling for the repeal of Obamacare since day one, the state has benefited from it. Texas’ uninsured rate went from 22.1 percent in 2013 to 17.1 percent in 2015, according to the latest U.S. Census data. But after Republicans in Congress unveiled their long-awaited plan to repeal the law on Monday, Curran said he was concerned that Texas patients and doctors would not want to understand how the changes will affect them. (Evans and Livingston, 3/7)

How would the new health care plan proposed by congressional Republicans affect Georgia? Much of the impact has yet to be analyzed. Under many of the plan’s elements, though, the states would be treated similarly. One striking change nationwide would fulfill a longtime GOP campaign promise: The newly unveiled American Health Care Act would eliminate the mandate for individuals to buy coverage or pay a penalty. (Miller, 3/7)

Though House Republicans late Monday finally revealed their plan to replace the Affordable Care Act after months of speculation, uncertainties still abound about how much the plan might save or cost the federal government, and how many may lose or gain insurance because of it. But health policy professionals, experts and advocates in Virginia have already noted that the newly proposed American Health Care Act, while retaining many of the most popular patient protection parts of the ACA, will shift costs onto the patient. (Demeria, 3/7)

Members of Congress will begin moving forward today with efforts to pass the American Health Care Act, a proposal to replace many of the major provisions of the Affordable Care Act, the health law commonly known as Obamacare. House Republicans say their plan will provide relief to those burdened by higher taxes, increased premiums and limited insurance options as a result of Obamacare. (Levin Becker, 3/8)

For better or worse, Californians who aren’t insured through their employers could see major changes in their health insurance costs under a Republican replacement for the Affordable Care Act. A House GOP proposal introduced Monday would provide substantially less financial help to many consumers in higher-cost areas of California, from San Francisco to Monterey. But people in lower-cost markets like Los Angeles could fare better. (Terhune, 3/7)