Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Forget Political Upheaval: For Insurers 'Job No. 1' Is Easing Confusion For Consumers
The Washington Post: Health Insurers’ Most Pressing Concern Right Now? Consumer Confusion.
Health insurers heading into the 2018 Affordable Care Act enrollment season say they’re staying laser focused on maximizing sign-ups, even as Republicans remain in disarray and even denial over the seven-year-old health-care law. A big funding infusion that could help lower Obamacare premiums is in flux just 12 days before enrollment starts. President Trump sent mixed signals this week about whether he’d support legislation funding subsidies for lower-income Americans to get coverage. (Winfield Cunningham, 10/19)
Reuters: Some Middle-Class Americans Worry Trump Health Subsidies Cut Will Hurt
Tom Westerman voted for Donald Trump in last year's election but says he might not do so again after the president cut off billions of dollars in Obamacare subsidies to health insurance companies. "It really upset me," said Westerman, 63, a self-described "middle-class guy" with an annual household income of about $60,000 in the western Pennsylvania city of Arnold. (Reid and Abutaleb, 10/19)
The Wall Street Journal: 5 Ways This ACA Open Enrollment Period Will Be Different
In less than two weeks, the first Trump-era open enrollment season for health insurance will commence. Whether consumers look to renew insurance plans or join the individual market for the first time, here are some ways the experience may be different this year compared to years prior, according to a presentation to reporters Wednesday by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. (Jamerson, 10/19)
Los Angeles Times: With Obamacare, Fewer Americans Were Uninsured When They Were Told They Had Cancer
As President Trump and his allies in Congress keep pushing to get rid of Obamacare, new research shows that the contentious law has succeeded in expanding health insurance coverage for Americans with cancer. But not everywhere. This upside of Obamacare — known formally as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or ACA — was seen primarily in states that participated in the Medicaid expansion that the law made possible. (Kaplan, 10/19)
The Associated Press: Survey: US Uninsured Up 3.5M This Year; Expected To Rise
The number of U.S. adults without health insurance is up nearly 3.5 million this year, as rising premiums and political turmoil over "Obamacare" undermine coverage gains that drove the nation's uninsured rate to a historic low. (10/20)
California Healthline: Calif. Locks In Plans For Open Enrollment As Congressional Bipartisanship Fades
A sudden burst of bipartisanship this week on health care just as quickly appeared to lose steam in Washington. Two key senators, Republican Lamar Alexander and Democrat Patty Murray, announced a bill Tuesday aimed at stabilizing the health insurance marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act. It would guarantee payment of “cost-sharing reduction” subsidies that help lower-income consumers with their deductibles and copays for 2018 and 2019. President Donald Trump had halted those payments last week. (Other federal subsidies that help people pay for their premiums weren’t affected and remain intact.) (10/19)
State House News Service: In Switch, State Health Exchange Will Post Steep Rate Increases
The Massachusetts Health Connector announced last week it would use the lower of two rate sets for some of its plans, but President Trump's decision hours later to end certain federal insurance subsidies means the Connector will use the higher rates after all. ...With uncertainty still prevalent about the federal health care landscape, the Health Connector and Division of Insurance had prepared two sets of rates for its 2018 plans, including one featuring bigger rate increases that accounted for the possibility the federal government would stop making monthly payments to insurers known as cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments. (Lannan, 10/19)
