These waivers could lower premiums, the budget office said, because insurance plans “would cover fewer benefitsbr and therefore a smaller share of total health care costs.” If a state excluded maternity care from its definition of “essential health benefits,” such coverage could be offered separately as a rider, for an additional cost, just as it was in many states before the Affordable Care Act, the budget office saidbr By ROBERT PEARMAY 24, 2017br WASHINGTON — A bill to dismantle the Affordable Care Actbr that narrowly passed the House this month would leave 14 million more people uninsured next year than under President Barack Obama’s health law — and 23 million more in 2026, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.br Under the House bill, states could opt out of certain provisions of the health care law, including onebr that requires insurers to provide a minimum set of health benefits and another that prohibits them from charging higher premiums based on a person’s health status.