Under the GOP plan, rural voters could be charged more for health insurance than they make in a year

An analysis of the Republican health-care proposal by the consulting firm Oliver Wyman has found that the overhaul would hit rural areas intensely, and in some cases consumers could even owe more for a plan than they make in a year. "In Nebraska's Chase County, a 62-year-old currently earning about $18,000 a year could pay nearly $20,000 annually to get health-insurance coverage under the House GOP plan," writes The Wall Street Journal. Under the Affordable Care Act, that same person would owe $760 a year toward premiums, the Journal notes.

"It is disproportionately affecting the rural," explained Dianna Welch, an actuary at Oliver Wyman. The firm's analysis found that 97 out of 100 counties where 62-year-olds who earned around $36,000 would see the biggest jumps in costs were rural. The Wall Street Journal's own number-crunching showed that 62-year-olds earning around $18,000 a year would see a jump of more than $10,000 in 41 percent of countries won by President Trump, compared with 28 percent of counties won by Hillary Clinton in November.

Why rural counties in particular? The Wall Street Journal explains:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

But Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, shrugged off Oliver Wyman's numbers, saying they did not roundly reflect how the House bill will work. "Our legislation eliminates the red tape, taxes, and mandates that have led to sky-high premiums and a collapsing health care marketplace," Brady said in a statement.