Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
If States Use Waivers Built Into GOP Health Plan They Could Blow Up Their Own Markets, CBO Reports
The Washington Post Fact Checker: Explaining The CBO’s Vision Of Health-Care Catastrophe In The GOP Plan
The new Congressional Budget Office report on the American Health Care Act, the House GOP replacement for Obamacare, demonstrates how difficult it is to craft a complex law that affects one-sixth of the U.S. economy. There are many variables — and unforeseen outcomes — that can undermine even the most carefully crafted policy initiative. As a service to readers, we are going to explain one surprising element of the CBO report — that in some states, the law’s efforts to protect people with preexisting medical conditions might end up undermining the individual insurance markets so much that effectively there is no protection at all. (Kessler, 5/26)
The Associated Press: GOP Senators Say Tough Report Complicates Health Care Bill
Republicans senators conceded Thursday that a scathing analysis of the House GOP health care bill had complicated their effort to dismantle President Barack Obama's health care law. "It makes everything harder and more difficult," Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said of a Congressional Budget Office analysis projecting that the House bill would cause 23 million Americans to lose coverage by 2026 and create prohibitively expensive costs for many others. (5/25)
NPR: Patient And Doctor Groups Say CBO Score Reveals Health Care Bill's Flaws
Health care groups that represent doctors and patients are warning members of Congress that the House Republicans' plan to overhaul the Affordable Care Act would hurt people who need insurance most. The groups are responding to the latest assessment by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which concluded that the proposed American Health Care Act would leave 23 million more people without health insurance than under current law and would cut the deficit by $119 billion over 10 years. (Kodjak, 5/25)
USA Today: CBO Says Sick Folks In Some States May Never Be Able To Get Health Insurance
About one in six people who are sick or have suffered from chronic health conditions will pay more for health insurance that covers less under the House-passed legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act — if they’re able to get insurance at all, the Congressional Budget Office concluded in a new report on the bill. (O'Donnell, 5/25)
