Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
A Cautionary Tale: Washington State Tried Its Own Repeal In The '90s And It Left Its Market In Shambles
Los Angeles Times: In Washington State, A Healthcare Repeal Lesson Learned The Hard Way
Republicans in the state of Washington didn’t wait long in the spring of 1995 to fulfill their pledge to roll back a sweeping law expanding health coverage in the state. Coming off historic electoral gains, the GOP legislators scrapped much of the law while pledging to make health insurance affordable and to free state residents from onerous government mandates. It didn’t work out that way: The repeal left the state’s insurance market in shambles, sent premiums skyrocketing and drove health insurers from the state. It took nearly five years to repair the damage. (Levey, 5/31)
The Associated Press: GOP Health Plan Could Be Costly For Those With Coverage Gaps
As a thyroid cancer survivor battling nerve damage and other complications, Lisa Dammert was in such dire financial straits in 2014 that she and her husband did the unthinkable: They let their health insurance lapse for a while. If the Dammerts and some of the millions of other Americans like them do that under the Republican health care plan now making its way through Congress, they could end up paying a heavy price. (5/31)
Bloomberg: To Repeal Obamacare, Senate May Have To Keep Some Of Its Taxes
Senate Republicans crafting an Obamacare replacement are delaying one of their toughest decisions: whether to keep all of the House measure’s $664 billion in tax cuts that mostly benefit well-off Americans. The House in a bill passed May 4 voted to end taxes enacted under the Affordable Care Act, including those on investment income, expensive "Cadillac" health plans and even indoor tanning. Yet some moderate senators want to keep part of that revenue to soften the House plan’s deep health-care cuts that are estimated to leave 23 million fewer people with insurance by 2026. (Litvan, 5/31)
Morning Consult: Uncertain Future Of Individual Mandate Could Contribute To Higher Premiums
Uncertainty about whether the Trump administration would enforce the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate is causing heartburn for some insurers — and it’s evident in their requests to set premiums. Rate filings show some insurers believe the Trump administration could stop enforcing the mandate — or it’s already not being enforced, Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute, said at an event on Wednesday. (McIntire, 5/31)
The Associated Press: Sen. Cassidy's Health Care Alternative Jeered At Town Hall
Skeptics of Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy's alternative to the Affordable Care Act moaned and jeered at him during a town hall in Louisiana Wednesday, and when he said he's "neutral" on the Paris Accords to combat climate change, members of the audience groaned. One shouted, "Take a stand." The Republican senator had his supporters among the more than 200 people who jammed a meeting hall in Covington, north of New Orleans. They applauded loudly when he said insurance premiums and deductibles for health insurance have skyrocketed for some under President Barack Obama's health care law. (5/31)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Sen. Bill Cassidy Gets Earful From Constituents In Covington Town Hall
The last time U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy held a town hall meeting in the metro New Orleans area, he ran into a buzzsaw of boisterous constituents.His town hall meeting in Covington Wednesday (May 31) was hardly as raucous as that February gathering in Metairie, but the capacity crowd nonetheless came with pointed questions, mostly about health care. Even more people gathered outside the building, unable to fit into the 220-seat auditorium at the St. Tammany Parish School Board office. The Associated Press reported that some of those outside chanted "Health care, not wealth care.''...Most of the questions posed during the hour-long forum focused on the health care plan the U.S. House of Representatives recently approved to replace Obamacare and what version the U.S. Senate will eventually come up with. (Warren, 5/31)
Roll Call: A Chaotic Start To A Town Hall-Filled Recess Week
The Tuesday of Memorial Day recess was a busy one for members of Congress interacting with constituents. It could be just the start, considering many more public meetings are planned for later this week or over the weekend. For instance, Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., distanced himself from Trump in front of angry town hall attendees demanding he do just that. While across the country in California, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa may have hidden from his protesting constituents on top of his district office roof. A little farther north in California, Trump supporters disrupted an immigration town hall with Democratic Rep. Lou Correa, resulting in the arrest of one man and the detention of two women. (Breiner, 5/31)
Kaiser Health News: Senators’ Dueling Web Shoutouts Echo Nation’s Partisan Divide On Obamacare
Politically, Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) are not all that far apart. Both are moderates who rejected proposed cuts in Medicaid funds. And yet, in the highly polarized atmosphere of Washington, D.C., they find themselves rallying constituents along diametrically opposed positions. The dialogue has become President Obama’s Affordable Care Act versus a new GOP bill, called (for now) the American Health Care Act. A love-it-or-leave-it mentality pervades both sides. As angry voters at town halls express their concerns about the state of American health care, the senators are reaching out for patient stories to prove their respective viewpoints. (Bluth, 6/1)
