Perspectives: Coverage Of Pre-Existing Conditions … Definitely Confusing; Examining The Health Law’s Subsidies
Opinion writers consider what's behind the current buzz words in the debate over the Affordable Care Act's future.
The Wall Street Journal:
Pre-Existing Confusion
Insurance coverage for pre-existing health conditions can be confusing, as President Trump and a journalist showed in a television interview over the weekend. Allow us to explain how the GOP reform would work in practice and why pre-existing conditions have been exaggerated as a political problem. Mr. Trump told CBS ’s John Dickerson that “I watch some of the news reports, which are so unfair, and they say we don’t cover pre-existing conditions, we cover it beautifully.” Mr. Dickerson seemed surprised: “Okay. Well, that’s a development, sir. So you’re saying it’s going to be pre-existing to everybody?” Mr. Trump said the House bill had “evolved” but as usual didn’t explain how. (5/1)
The Washington Post:
Does The President Know What’s In The Republican Health-Care Bill? And Does It Matter?
In the flurry of interviews before President Trump's 100th day in office, one of the remarks that stood out most for me did not come from Trump himself. It was a quick paraphrase in the middle of the Washington Examiner's recap of a Trump interviews on health care. After writing about Trump's criticism of the Affordable Care Act, reporter Sarah Westwood described how Trump talked about the American Health Care Act, which Republicans are trying to resurrect for a vote this week. “He extolled the legislation's virtues,” Westwood wrote. (David Weigel, 5/1)
The Washington Post:
Trump’s Nifty Plan To Spend More And Hurt Poor People More — At The Same Time!
Who says President Trump isn’t a policy genius? He’s figured out a clever way to spend more government money just to stick it to poor people. His innovation has to do with the intricate interplay of Affordable Care Act subsidies. (Catherine Rampell, 5/1)
Morning Consult:
How CSRs Could Upend Health Care
Despite affecting as many 7 million people, cost-sharing reduction subsidies are often-ignored components of the Affordable Care Act. While premium tax credits get most of the headlines, CSRs are what stand between millions of Americans and their health care — not to mention the decisions by insurance providers whether to participate in the 2018 marketplace. The possibility of eliminating CSRs is a real threat to President Barack Obama’s healthcare legacy. (Ipsita Smolinski, 5/2)
RealClear Health:
Obamacare Repeal Can’t Ignore Price Controls
The failure of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the planned replacement for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was the first major legislative defeat for President Trump. Critics dubbed the AHCA “Obamacare Lite” for its many market-limiting provisions that would have discouraged improvements in health care while leaving healthy Americans with higher costs—and most everyone with fewer options. Now Republicans in Congress are considering the MacArthur-Meadows amendment to allow states to apply for opt-out waivers for some Obamacare rules, including mandated benefits and required community rating. (Tracy Miller, 5/2)
Cincinnati Enquirer:
Trump Dismantling Policies Of The Progressive Era: The New Deal And The Great Society
Even though a budget measure must be passed before the end of the month to avert a federal government shutdown, Congress is seeking to revive its efforts to end Obamacare, despite the opposition of much of the country. It’s easy to get agitated about any one of these issues. Yet an even larger problem looms, and it deserves our full attention. (Allan Winkler, 5/1)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Trump Has It Backward On House Health Care Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives could vote on its latest version of the American Health Care Act as early as Wednesday. Before that happens, someone should tell President Donald Trump that the bill doesn’t do what he thinks it does. In an interview on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Trump had key details of the bill completely wrong. Asked by host John Dickerson how the bill would help his supporters, Trump said: “Pre-existing conditions are in the bill … I mandated it. I said, ‘Has to be.’” (5/1)
Arizona Republic:
Will Congress Exempt Itself From Trumpcare?
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, more than half of the members of Congress are millionaires. More than a few of them are millionaires many, many times over. They have no worries about health care or anything else. (EJ Montini, 5/1)
KevinMD:
Facility Fees Are Ruining Quality Care
The Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion resulted in unanticipated negative consequences for many patients and physicians in rural, underserved or medically isolated communities across America. Consolidation of health care entities was financially incentivized by the ACA, and slowly my beloved corner of the Pacific Northwest is becoming a medical wasteland.. (Niran S. Al-Agba, 5/1)
