Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Insurer Subsidies Provide Trump With Powerful Tool He's Not Hesitating To Wield
NPR: Trump Threatens To Withold Funds That Help Keep Insurance Markets Stable
President Trump took to Twitter this week to threaten insurance companies that he may withhold crucial government payments in an effort to undermine the Affordable Care Act. It's not the first time the president has threatened to cut off these payments to insurers, which he refers to as "BAILOUTS." But these payments aren't designed to compensate insurers for business failures. Rather they reimburse insurance companies for discounts the law requires them to give to low-income people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. (Kodjak, 8/1)
The Wall Street Journal: Trump Threatens Insurer Payments To Push Congress On Health-Law Repeal
President Donald Trump warned Monday that he could end federal payments to insurers, allowing them to be “hurt” by the Affordable Care Act, as a way to press members of Congress to revive efforts to repeal the Obama-era health law. “If ObamaCare is hurting people, & it is, why shouldn’t it hurt the insurance companies,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. The president was alluding to the ACA’s “cost-sharing reduction” payments, which the government pays to insurers to help them cut deductibles and other costs for low-income consumers. (Hackman, Hughes and Wilde Mathews, 7/31)
The Associated Press: Trump On Tricky Legal Ground With 'Obamacare' Threat
President Donald Trump's threat to stop billions of dollars in government payments to insurers and force the collapse of "Obamacare" could put the government in a tricky legal situation. Legal experts say he'd be handing insurers a solid court case, while undermining his own leverage to compel Democrats to negotiate, especially if premiums jump by 20 percent as expected after such a move. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 8/1)
The Hill: GOP Lawmakers, Trump At Odds Over Insurance Payments
Lawmakers are facing off with President Trump over key ObamaCare payments that are in jeopardy after the collapse of efforts to repeal the healthcare law. Trump is threatening to cancel the payments, known as cost-sharing reductions (CSRs), as part of his effort to make ObamaCare “implode.” (Sullivan, 7/31)
The Associated Press Fact Check: Trump Misleads On Congressional Health Care
President Donald Trump says Congress should be paying what the public pays when it comes to "Obamacare." But members of Congress already pretty much do. Here's a look at Trump's claim, and the reality. (7/31)
CQ Roll Call: Top GOP Senators Split From Trump On Health Law Subsidy Payment
Top Senate Republicans on Monday offered support for continuing payment of a disputed subsidy created by Democrats’ 2010 health law, putting them at odds with the Trump administration. The White House renewed threats to cut off so-called cost-sharing reduction payments after the Senate last week was unable to advance GOP health care legislation. Insurers have appealed to Republicans to maintain these payments, which cover incidental costs of insurance for people with low incomes who purchase on government-run exchanges. The federal government is expected to spent about $48 billion on premium tax credits next year, and $10 billion on the CSRs, which cover costs such as deductibles, according to a Congressional Budget Office report. (McIntire and Clason, 7/31)
Los Angeles Times: Can Trump Really Cut Health Insurance Payments For Members Of Congress And Their Staff? It Would Be Easy
Reeling from the failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Trump now threatens to block federal funding that lawmakers and their staff rely on to help buy health insurance. Trump's threats are not empty. The administration could simply stop the payments -- which are provided to Capitol Hill lawmakers and staff much the way many employers help pay employees' monthly insurance premiums -- by dashing off new federal regulation. (Mascaro, 7/31)
The Wall Street Journal: Could Trump Cut Lawmakers’ Health Coverage?
A warning by President Donald Trump that he might cut off congressional members’ health benefits in an effort to force them back to the bargaining table on health care has drawn a lot of attention—and some questions. We have answers. (Radnofsky, 7/31)
