Yesterday, House Republican leadership released another “replacement plan,” the Obamacare Repeal and Replace Policy Brief and Resources. After nearly seven years, Republicans continue to call for replacement of the Affordable Care Act but have yet to put forward a plan that offers any clarity to consumers, let alone the same protections and coverage gains currently available under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The announcement of yet another messaging document masquerading as a replacement plan continues that trend. Once again, in spite of much fanfare and self-congratulation, House Republicans still failed to present agreed-upon legislative language. The white paper released yesterday includes only high-level descriptions on some possible aspects of replacement while leaving key details missing.

Despite Republican protestations, the ACA has greatly improved the affordability of coverage available to consumers. The ACA has provided low- and moderate-income individuals and families with hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts to help make health insurance more affordable. And a majority of consumers using Healthcare.gov have been able to find plans with premiums below $100 after taking into account financial assistance.  Although most marketplace enrollees like their coverage, the main thing people want from health reform is lower out-of-pocket costs.

Yet instead of building on the current law, Republicans keep on releasing proposals that would undermine the coverage gains we have made under the ACA, leave families with fewer benefits and higher out-of-pocket costs, and dismantle Medicaid’s critical safety net. Rather than a detailed consensus for specific legislation, the Obamacare Repeal and Replace Policy Brief simply reiterates a grab-bag of recycled Republican policy ideas that fail to provide true protection for consumers.

For example, the tax credits offered under the Republican plan would not be adjusted based on income. Under this proposal, a family earning $150,000 would get just as much help as a family earning $25,000. People with fewer resources would likely get far less help affording premiums than they get today, which essentially amounts to a tax increase for these families and would likely put coverage out of reach for them. The proposal also encourages use of health savings accounts to supplement high-deductible health plans and the establishment of high-risk pools to aid individuals with pre-existing conditions. None of these policies makes coverage more accessible or affordable to low-income consumers and in reality would increase out-of-pocket costs when consumers can least afford it.

The GOP plan would also dismantle the Medicaid program as we know it. Their proposal to phase out Medicaid Expansion would reverse the progress made under the ACA to extend health insurance to low-income adults. And the proposal to cap and slash federal funding through per capita caps and block grants would push massive costs onto states and erode the health care safety net, putting coverage at risk for tens of millions of children, older adults and people with disabilities.

The Republican leadership’s continued reliance on concept papers and rhetoric – instead of real proposals backed by concrete numbers and analysis – shows just how far they are from having a plan that can deliver on the promises they have made to replace the ACA with something that is both better and cheaper. Ultimately, these plans are a distraction from the real issue at hand – whether Congress will vote for a reconciliation bill that takes coverage away from millions and raises costs for millions more without any consensus on what, if anything, will come next.