Having recently passed the House of Representatives, the American Health Care Act awaits a vote in the Senate. The AHCA is problematic for a number of reasons: it eliminates protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions, it weakens Medicare, and it imposes severe cuts to Medicaid. However, I’m writing specifically about the addition of an “age tax” that also allows insurance companies to charge older Americans five times or more what a younger adult pays for the same coverage.

Under current law, health insurers can already charge older adults up to three times more than younger adults. Raising this to five times as much would substantially raise premiums for pre-Medicare adults.

Here in Maine, the 26,000 Mainers ages 50 to 64 currently buying health insurance on the individual market could pay up to $8,400 more per year. The age tax fails to take into consideration that a typical older American seeking private health insurance on their own has a median annual income of under $25,000. Here in Maine, many people, particularly in rural communities, have even lower incomes. Many work in service jobs without access to health care through their employer. Mainers simply cannot afford to pay thousands more in premiums.

Instead of imposing an age tax on older consumers to increase profits for insurance companies, we should aim to lower prices for prescription drugs, better coordinate care, and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse that add costs for everyone. No one is arguing that the current health care system is perfect — we must come together to find a bipartisan solution to rising health care costs. But the AHCA and the age tax don’t cut it.

As health care reform is debated in the Senate, it is critical to stay vigilant. I urge Mainers to call Sen. Susan Collins and let her know we are counting on her to do what is right for older Mainers and Mainers of all ages.

Arthur Jacobson

Winthrop