Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Insurers, Consumers Relieved By Court Decision
USA Today: Obamacare Subsidies Stay, To Relief Of Consumers, Insurers, Other Businesses
About 6.4 million consumers with Obamacare plans purchased on the federal health care exchange will be able to keep their subsidies under today's Supreme Court ruling. "In the short run, 5 to 6 million would have lost health insurance, which would have been a problem because some states would have scrambled to set up exchanges and other states just wouldn't have," says economist Tal Gross, an assistant professor at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. (O'Donnell and Ungar, 6/25)
The New York Times' Upshot: Obamacare Ruling May Have Just Killed State-Based Exchanges
Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that health insurance consumers can receive federal subsidies regardless of their state’s role in running their insurance market, fewer states may stay in the game. ... Many of those states that did try running their own marketplaces are starting to think twice. Now, with the Supreme Court ensuring that every state’s consumers will have equal access to federal subsidies, it is becoming clear that more of those states will revert to a federal system for enrolling people in health insurance. (Sanger-Katz, 6/25)
The New York Times: Measuring Health Insurance Subsidies’ Success
Have the subsidies succeeded? By many measures, the answer is yes. More than seven million people are enrolled in the federal health insurance marketplaces, and a majority of them — 87 percent — receive subsidies in the form of tax credits to help pay their premiums, the government says. Without subsidies, many would be unable to buy insurance. The subsidies also appear to have drawn substantial numbers of younger, healthier Americans into the new insurance markets .... By some other measures, the subsidies have not lived up to expectations. Although they reduce the direct cost of buying insurance for many consumers, the subsidies do not by themselves hold down the overall cost of insurance, which is driven in part by health care costs. (Pear and Sanger-Katz, 6/25)
The Wall Street Journal: Insurance Industry Relieved as Supreme Court Upholds Health-Law Subsidies
With the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the health law’s subsidies on the federally run insurance markets, the insurance industry can breathe a sigh of relief—and turn back to the other challenges and changes it faces. “Today’s Supreme Court ruling ensures that millions of Americans can receive financial assistance from the government to help them continue to afford their health-insurance coverage,” the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, whose member Blue insurers are significant participants in the health law’s exchanges, said in a statement. ... Insurers’ attention will now be focused on the possibility of huge deals that could knit together some of the industry’s biggest players. (Wilde Mathews, 6/25)
The Wall Street Journal: The Obamacare Trade: How Stocks Are Reacting To The Supreme Court Ruling
Stocks of health care providers and insurance companies are popping Thursday morning following the U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a key part of the Affordable Care Act. The ruling essentially affirms the government’s ability to subsidize health-insurance purchases by lower-income Americans across the country. (Farrell, 6/25)
The Associated Press: Hospital Stocks Leap After Supreme Court Upholds Health Care Overhaul Subsidies For Patients
Investors in hospital stocks rejoiced Thursday after the Supreme Court upheld a key portion of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and eliminated the prospect of a sudden influx of uninsured patients seeking care. Shares of big hospital operators like HCA Holdings Inc., Tenet Healthcare Corp. and Community Health Systems Inc. all jumped much higher than the broader market after the court upheld tax subsidies that play a key role in helping millions of Americans pay for health insurance. (Murphy, 6/25)
Chicago Tribune: Health Care Stocks Rise After Supreme Court'S Obamacare Ruling
Investors cheered the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold Obamacare tax subsidies, driving up stocks of insurers and hospitals in Thursday morning trading. Shares of Tenet Healthcare, a Dallas-based hospital company, were up 13.6 percent at 10:38 a.m. Competitor HCA Holdings, based in Nashville, gained 8.9 percent. The Affordable Care Act has helped hospitals' profits because the health law expanded Medicaid programs in a number of states, including Illinois. As Medicaid admissions have grown, the number of uninsured admissions has declined, hospitals says. (Sachdev, 6/25)
