Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
ACA Enrollment To Reopen For Three Months; Biden Aims To Roll Back Medicaid Barriers
The Washington Post: Biden Reopens ACA Enrollment For Three Months In Opening Bid To Extend Health Coverage
President Biden ordered Thursday the reopening of the Affordable Care Act’s federal insurance marketplaces for three months to give millions of Americans who need coverage during the coronavirus pandemic an extended chance to buy health plans. The directive, part of a series of executive actions the president is taking during his first days in office, is a down payment on his pledge to make health care more accessible and affordable and a sign of his determination to rehabilitate the landmark law after four years of Republican battering. Those goals have taken on more urgency as 25 million people have been infected with the coronavirus and millions of others have lost jobs. (Goldstein, 1/28)
Politico: Biden Takes First Step Toward Bolstering Obamacare
The actions are the first in a series of moves Biden is planning to shore up a law he campaigned on expanding. Though former President Donald Trump failed to repeal Obamacare, his administration weakened the law through executive action and advanced policies that would shrink enrollment in its expansion of Medicaid to poor adults. But Biden’s more ambitious plans for bolstering the Affordable Care Act will require help from Congress. Democrats in full control of Washington, D.C., for the first time since the ACA's passage face the challenge of maintaining Americans’ newfound affection for the law while addressing growing voter angst over soaring health care costs. (Luthi, 1/28)
The New York Times: Biden Moves To Expand Health Coverage In Pandemic Economy
Mr. Biden used Thursday’s appearance at the White House to begin shoring up health care programs and policies that have been critical to a Democratic resurgence. Perhaps no policy is as important to him as the Affordable Care Act, which he helped secure as President Barack Obama’s vice president. President Donald J. Trump tried and failed to overturn the law, then weakened it with executive actions and rules, including making it easier for people to buy cheap, short-term plans that are not required to cover pre-existing medical conditions. “The best way to describe them: to undo the damage Trump has done,” Mr. Biden said of his actions during a brief signing ceremony in the Oval Office. “There’s nothing new that we’re doing here, other than restoring the Affordable Care Act and restoring the Medicaid to the way it was.” (Stolberg and Goodnough, 1/28)
Modern Healthcare: Biden To Reopen ACA Marketplace, Revisit Work Requirements
The executive order told federal regulators to look into policies that could undermine protections for people with preexisting conditions, undercut the individual marketplace or reduce coverage affordability or financial assistance. CMS will revisit Medicaid and ACA demonstrations and waivers that decrease coverage or "undermine the programs." ... Former CMS Administrator Seema Verma made Medicaid work requirements central to her effort to modify the program. Proponents argued the waivers would encourage people to work and ensure people didn't receive benefits if they didn't qualify for them. Of the 13 states CMS approved for a work requirement, Arkansas was the only state to completely implement its experiment. (Brady and Tepper, 1/28)
NBC News: Biden Wants To Strengthen Medicaid, But Trump Left Major Hurdles For Him
The Biden administration hopes to quickly help those uninsured in Georgia, as well as in 11 other states, by providing incentives to expand Medicaid. The efforts won't be easy, however: Some state leaders, like Gov. Brain Kemp last year, pursued a variation of Medicaid expansion pushed by the Trump administration — a version that undercuts the federal insurance program, implements work requirements and leaves hundreds of thousands of people without access to coverage. (McCausland, 1/28)
KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: The Long Road To Unwinding Trump Health Policies
Thursday was “health day” in President Joe Biden’s sprint to launch his presidency, and he signed two executive orders addressing health coverage and women’s reproductive rights. The orders will reopen enrollment under the Affordable Care Act from February to May and reverse the so-called Mexico City policy that limits funding to international health groups that perform or support the right to abortion. (1/28)
