Health Law Uncertainty Spawns Deep Unease In Industry Used To Planning Far In Future
The insurance industry is built around advanced planning and detailed projections of risk, and the companies are worried they're going to be left without any rules of the road to follow. Meanwhile, in other news, Republicans' plan to have insurers sell across state lines comes under fire; Aetna's CEO says decision to leave health law market was not driven by the DOJ's lawsuit; the medical device tax may end under a Trump presidency; and Labor secretary nominee's opinion on the health law's impact on restaurants is challenged.
The Wall Street Journal:
Insurers Step Up Lobbying With An Eye To Health-Law Changes
Health insurers are bracing for rapid changes to the Affordable Care Act, preparing contingency plans for their business and readying a full-court lobbying press as Congress looks to overturn swaths of the law as soon as January. Republican leaders in the House and Senate have promised quick action on the health law. They have said that much of the dismantling—and replacement—could take effect after a transition period of as long as a few years. (Wilde Mathews and Radnofsky, 12/11)
Boston Globe:
Trump’s Insurance Idea May Have Unhealthy Side Effects
In their quest to dismantle President Obama’s signature health care law and replace it with a new plan, President-elect Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress are pushing an idea long championed by conservatives: Allow health insurers to sell across state lines. It’s one of the few policy proposals Trump identified on the campaign trail, and it has the backing of House Speaker Paul Ryan, who included it in his “Better Way” health care plan. (Dayal McCluskey, 12/10)
Previous KHN coverage: Sounds Like A Good Idea? Selling Insurance Across State Lines
Bloomberg:
Aetna CEO Denies Obamacare Pullout Driven By U.S. Merger Suit
Aetna Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Bertolini defended the decision this year to withdraw from Obamacare markets, saying the move was driven by mounting losses and not the U.S. lawsuit against the health insurer’s planned takeover of Humana Inc. In testimony Friday in Washington, Bertolini disputed that Aetna’s pullout from the insurance exchanges was triggered by the Justice Department’s case. The insurer was projecting losses of $800 million to $900 million in 2017 from the exchanges and had to do something “to stop the bleeding,” he said. (McLaughlin, 12/9)
Reuters:
Under Trump, Congress Likely To Pull Plug On Medical Device Tax
When Donald Trump takes over as president on Jan. 20, one of the first business tax breaks he delivers is likely to go to the U.S. medical device industry and companies like Mark Throdahl's. The chief executive of OrthoPediatrics Corp, based in northern Indiana, said his company has been able to hire more workers since the temporary suspension effective last January of a federal tax on medical devices. The tax was imposed as part of outgoing President Barack Obama's signature 2010 healthcare law. (Carey and Cornwell, 12/9)
The New York Times:
‘Restaurant Recession’ From Health Care Act? Little Evidence
Of all the policy positions taken by Andrew F. Puzder, the fast-food chief executive whom Donald J. Trump has chosen to be his secretary of labor, one he returns to with regularity is his passionate disdain for the Affordable Care Act and its effect on businesses and workers. In the last few months, Mr. Puzder has spoken out multiple times — in a speech before restaurant executives, on Fox Business, on the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal — about what he calls a “government-mandated restaurant recession.” He says the law has led to rising health insurance premiums, “reducing consumer spending, resulting in a reduction in restaurant visits.” (Scheiber and Strom, 12/9)
