Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
ACA Policies To See Another 13% Rise On Average For Premium Costs In 2027
The New York Times: Obamacare Policies Hit Again With Steep Premium Increases For 2027
Millions of Americans who depend on Obamacare for their health insurance face another double-digit price increase next year, adding to the financial toll that has already driven millions of others to drop coverage since last year. The price increases largely reflect higher medical costs across the country. But they also are a signal of the latest blow to Obamacare under the Trump administration, which has overseen the expiration of tax credits that helped Americans pay for coverage and has erected new barriers to enrollment in an effort to root out what it describes as widespread fraud. (Abelson and Sanger-Katz, 10/30)
Fortune: Soaring Health Insurance Costs Are Quietly Preventing Wages From Rising Higher
Open enrollment season for health care plans is about to begin, and many Americans may get sticker shock after seeing how much premiums will rise. (Ma, 11/1)
On the high cost of prescription drugs —
Bloomberg: GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs Will Be Covered For Fewer US Employees
As American workers enroll in health plans this fall, fewer will find that their employers cover GLP-1 drugs for weight loss. The share of US companies covering the medications for weight loss in their employee health insurance plans fell to 53% this year, according to a survey of nearly 500 companies by consultancy WTW. That marks the first decline in coverage since the drugs became widely used for weight loss three years ago. And the pullback may not be over: 30% of the companies that still cover the pricey medications are considering dropping them, the survey found. (Rogers, 10/30)
Politico: The Trust-Busters Going After CVS Are Republicans
A burgeoning crackdown on pharmacy monopolies that could force CVS to sell off hundreds of its stores is coming from an unexpected place. The deep red South. A number of red states, as well as some blue ones, are poised to crack down on pharmacy conglomerates, following Tennessee and Arkansas, where GOP governors Bill Lee and Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed laws to bar companies from owning both pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers, which negotiate drug prices on behalf of insurance plans. (Hooper, 11/1)
In related news —
The Washington Post: The New Sign Of The Top 1 Percent In America? It Could Be Having A Third Kid.
In an analysis of the Federal Reserve’s recent Survey of Consumer Finances, Mike Konczal, vice president of policy and research at the left-leaning nonprofit Economic Security Project, found that 49 percent of U.S. families in the top 1 percent of incomes had three or more children, compared with 40 to 43 percent for most other income groups. (Osaka, 11/2)
