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The health care bill proposed by House Republicans would disproportionately affect older and poorer Californians by shrinking federal assistance to hundreds of thousands of older people who buy plans on Covered California and by reducing federal funding to Medi-Cal, the insurance program for the poor, experts say. The American Health Care Act, the GOP proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act, includes two provisions that health care experts calculate would lead to lower-income Californians in their 50s and 60s paying more for health care. (Ho, 3/13)

Some Massachusetts residents would lose health insurance if the GOP’s health care proposal goes into effect — but possibly not as quickly as the rest of the country. ... most of the first reduction, in 2018, is attributed to the elimination of penalties for not getting insurance. The CBO projects that some people who had been buying insurance just to avoid the penalty will drop coverage once the penalty is gone. That may not be as big a factor in Massachusetts, because the state has its own law, with penalties, requiring that nearly everyone obtain health insurance. (Freyer, 3/13)

The House Republican proposal to replace the federal health law could cost the state $89 million to $539 million in 2020, the year many of the major provisions would take effect, according to an analysis released by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration Monday. The administration also estimated that 34,000 people who buy health plans through the state’s health insurance exchange would not renew their coverage for 2018 if the proposal becomes law. (Levin Becker, 3/13)

As soon as the Congressional Budget Office released its long-awaited report Monday afternoon on the impact of the GOP’s American Health Care Act, Connecticut Democrats joined party colleagues in saying the analysis proved the health plan should be scrapped. The CBO estimated the American Health Care Act would result in 24 million Americans losing their health insurance, but would lower the budget deficit by $337 billion over 10 years, largely as a result of reduced federal payments to Medicaid, the joint federal-state health program for the poor. (Radelat, 3/13)

Michigan is one of several states that expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare — with an estimated 637,000 people qualifying under Gov. Rick Snyder’s Healthy Michigan program. If the plan severely scales back Medicaid payments, many Michiganders would be expected to ultimately lose or fail to qualify for coverage. Snyder — who has lobbied Republican leaders on Capitol Hill and the Trump administration for flexibility in continuing the Medicaid program — has remained mum on his opinion of the proposal since its unveiling last week. It faces an uncertain future in Congress, with Democrats and many more conservative Republican opposing it, though for different reasons. (Spangler, 3/13)

The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association has expressed concern about the American Health Care Act in letters it sent to Virginia’s representatives in Congress. Proposed last week as a replacement to the Affordable Care Act, if approved, the American Health Care Act would most drastically change the Medicaid program and how tax subsidies are doled out to help people afford health insurance. (Demeria, 3/14)