Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Administration Cuts Grants Again To Health Law Navigators Arguing They're Ineffective And Unnecessary
The New York Times: Trump Officials Slash Grants That Help Consumers Get Obamacare
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it was slashing grants to nonprofit organizations that help people obtain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the latest step in an escalating attack on the law that threatens to destabilize its insurance markets. The cuts are the second round in two years. The government will provide $10 million this fall, down from $36 million last autumn and $63 million in late 2016 — a total reduction of more than 80 percent. (Pear, 7/10)
Reuters: Trump Administration Cuts Grants To Help People Get Obamacare
Under the latest cuts, so-called navigators who sign up Americans for the ACA, also known as Obamacare, will get $10 million for the year starting in November, down from $36.8 million in the previous year, according to a statement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This follows a reduction announced by the CMS last August from $62.5 million, along with an even bigger cut to advertising for enrollment, and represents the latest in a series of moves to weaken the ACA by the administration of President Donald Trump. (Walsh, 7/10)
The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Slashes Funds For ACA Outreach
Groups applying for funds will also be encouraged to provide enrollment assistance for the new plans that don’t comply with the ACA, a further weakening of administration support for the Obama-era health law. The administration argues that organizations getting the funding have often failed to reach enrollment goals. Democrats and advocates of the ACA, however, say the cuts are an attempt by the administration to gut a program that is essential to ensuring robust sign-ups during open enrollment, which begins in November. (Armour, 7/10)
The Hill: Trump Officials Again Slash Funding For ObamaCare Outreach Groups
“As the Exchange has grown in visibility and become more familiar to Americans seeking health insurance, the need for federally funded Navigators has diminished,” CMS said in a statement on Tuesday. The administration also maintains that navigators have proven to be ineffective. (Sullivan, 7/10)
The Washington Post: Administration Slashes Grants To Help Americans Get Affordable Care Act Coverage
Since Congress was unable to pass such legislation, Trump and his aides have been taking steps to weaken the law through administrative maneuvers. The cuts to grass-roots groups around the country were announced three days after health officials revealed that, because of a pending lawsuit, they were suspending a program created by the law to even out the burden on health insurers whose customers are especially unhealthy or sick. (Goldstein, 7/10)
In other health law news —
Bloomberg: Insurers Urge A Quick Fix After Obamacare Payment Suspension
Insurance-industry groups are pushing the Trump administration to resolve a legal dispute that led to the suspension of billions of dollars of payments that help stabilize Obamacare’s markets. The groups say the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could quickly resume distributing the risk-adjustment funds by issuing what’s known as an interim final rule for the program. Doing so could help address a legal ruling that led the government to say this weekend it would halt the payments. (Tracery, 7/10)
Nashville Tennessean: Health Insurance: Rates Could Soar For Millions Of Americans Next Year
Millions of Americans who buy their health insurance under the Affordable Care Act could have fewer options and face skyrocketing rates this fall because of the federal government’s decision to freeze billions of payments to insurers that cover a higher number of sicker patients, analysts are warning. The Trump administration announced Saturday that it is putting on hold the “risk adjustment" program in which money is collected from insurers with fewer high-cost plan members and then transferred to insurers with more high-need patients who require more expensive care. (Collins, 7/10)
Bloomberg: Startups Lead A New Rush Into Obamacare's Now-Profitable Markets
Republicans remain eager to gut the Affordable Care Act, but some health plans say there’s no time like the present to be in the Obamacare business. Rising premiums in the marketplaces created by the health law are enticing insurers, who are looking past the political turbulence and a curveball this weekend from the Trump administration. More than a dozen insurers plan to enter new Obamacare markets for 2019, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Tracer, 7/10)
