After Supporting Tax Bill, Collins Wants More Than Double Original Ask For Bill Stabilizing Marketplace
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he would support passage of the bill sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). In other news, the health industry is about to be hit with a double-whammy from the Republican tax bill and a decision by the Department of Health and Human Services on short-term health plans; and The New York Times looks at where President Donald Trump gets it right -- and wrong -- about premiums.
The Hill:
Collins Doubles Funding Ask For ObamaCare Bill
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has doubled the amount of money she's requesting in her ObamaCare stabilization bill in exchange for her vote on the GOP's tax-reform plan. Collins, a key vote on tax reform, is pushing for the passage of two ObamaCare bills in an attempt to mitigate the effects of the tax bill's repeal of the individual insurance mandate. (Hellmann, 12/4)
Modern Healthcare:
Loss Of The Individual Mandate, Loosened Regulation Of Short-Term Plans Feared By Healthcare Industry
Health insurers—and hospitals—soon may be socked by a double whammy that could drive away insurers' healthier customers, induce them to spike premiums and unravel the individual market. First, the Senate Republican tax cut bill would repeal the Affordable Care Act's requirement that nearly everyone get insurance. That provision, which House Republicans support, is projected to reduce the number of insured Americans, particularly healthier people, by 13 million in 2027 and boost premiums each year by an average of 10%, according to the Congressional Budget Office. (Meyer, 12/4)
The New York Times:
Why Trump Is Right And Wrong About Obamacare Premiums
President Trump says that premiums for Obamacare are “going up, up, up.” He is partly correct and partly incorrect, according to a New York Times analysis of new data provided by the McKinsey Center for U.S. Health System Reform. (Park, 12/4)
Meanwhile —
Kaiser Health News:
‘I’ve Never Been This Busy’: As Marketplace Deadline Nears, Navigators Feel The Pinch
When Monica Spalding got the renewal letter from her health insurance company with premium details for the upcoming year, she couldn’t believe her eyes. The insurer estimated that the share of the monthly premium that she and her husband would owe for their marketplace silver plan would go up from the current $28 a month to $545. (Andrews, 12/5)
