Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
GOP's Obamacare Replacement Would Include Changes To Medicare, Taxes On Insurance
Morning Consult: House GOP Mulling Medicare Age Changes And Taxation On Premiums
The details of House Republicans’ plan to replace Obamacare are beginning to emerge. ... The plan, even in its draft stages, touches on all aspects of the healthcare system. It discusses the individual insurance market, updates to Medicaid, and possible changes to Medicare. ... [Rep. John] Fleming said other topics discussed in Thursday’s meeting included the tax treatment of individual and employer insurance, which would likely be equalized under the GOP plan. ... Medicare changes discussed at the meeting included enhancing Medicare Advantage, the private alternative to traditional fee-for-service Medicare, and raising the Medicare eligibility age. (Owens, 5/12)
The Hill: GOP Closing In On ObamaCare Alternative, Lawmakers Say
Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), the co-chairman of the GOP Doctors Caucus, said the plan Republicans have drafted would address ObamaCare, Medicare and Medicaid. The plan will not be put into legislative text, however, meaning it will be less specific and the cost and effect on coverage levels will be harder to assess. Instead, the plan will be a “white paper,” according to Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.). The proposal will include a version of Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) long-standing proposal to make Medicare more market-based, giving seniors a kind of voucher to use for private insurance, according to two Republican lawmakers who attended the meeting. (Sullivan and Ferris, 5/12)
A recent study looks at coverage of lower income children following the implementation of the health law —
Kaiser Health News: Health Coverage Rates For Lower Income Children Improving
Bolstered by the federal health care law, the number of lower income kids getting health coverage continues to improve, a recent study found. During 2014, the first full year of the law’s implementation, 91 percent of children who were eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program were enrolled, according to the study by researchers at the Urban Institute. In 2013, that figure was 88.7 percent and only 81.7 percent in 2008. (Andrews, 5/13)
And in insurance marketplace news from Kansas —
The Kansas Health Institute News Service: Selzer: Two More Companies File To Sell Insurance In Marketplace
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer announced Thursday that two companies have filed to sell health insurance plans in Kansas on the individual market, including the federal Affordable Care Act’s online marketplace. UnitedHealthcare’s announcement that it would be pulling out of the marketplace in 2017 opened the possibility that Kansans who shop there would be left with only one choice of insurer. (Marso, 5/12)
