Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Insurers Stuck In Repeal And Replace Limbo Say Without Clarity Marketplaces Are In Peril
The Associated Press: Insurers Shrink From Exchanges As Lawmakers Mull Changes
The Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges have become too risky for major health insurers, and that's creating further doubt about coverage options consumers might have next year. Anthem CEO Joseph Swedish said Wednesday his company is waiting to see whether the government makes some short-term fixes to the shaky exchanges before it decides how much it will participate next year. The Blue Cross-Blue Shield carrier is the nation's second largest insurer and sells coverage on exchanges in 14 states. (2/1)
The Washington Post: Health Insurers Warn Of Wider Defections From ACA Marketplaces For 2018
Leaders for the health insurance industry, state insurance commissioners and brokers warned Wednesday that more health plans almost certainly will defect from Affordable Care Act marketplaces unless Congress and the Trump administration provide some concrete assurances within the next two months. Unless the government promises to continue subsidies and other features of the law for at least another year, some states probably will not have any insurers selling health plans to individuals buying coverage on their own for 2018, the witnesses warned at a Senate hearing. (Goldstein, 2/1)
Bloomberg: Obamacare’s Slow And Painful Death Puts Health Insurers In Limbo
“We will make the right decisions to protect the business,” CEO Joseph Swedish told Wall Street analysts in a conference call. “If we can’t see stability going into 2018, with respect to either pricing, product, or the overall rules of engagement, then we will begin making some very conscious decisions with respect to extracting ourselves.” Congressional Republicans face a dilemma, too. They want to paint Obamacare as collapsing to help justify its repeal. Yet they need to keep its markets humming this year, and probably into 2018, or take the blame for millions of people who might lose coverage. That will be the topic of hearings Wednesday in the Senate and Thursday in the House. (Tracer, 2/1)
Politico Pro: Senators Spar Over Obamacare Turbulence As Insurers Plead For Stability
Health insurers told Congress it needs to move quickly to assure their participation in Obamacare in 2018 while Senate Republicans and Democrats traded charges over the cause of turbulence in health law markets. With important details of a GOP repeal-replace plan still missing, Republicans on the Senate HELP Committee used a two-plus-hour hearing to showcase problems such as the departure of some major insurers and average nationwide premiums hikes of more than 20 percent. They blamed what they described as Obamacare’s heavy-handed approach toward regulating what products can be sold and what benefits must be provided. (Demko, 2/1)
The Hill: Health Chair: Congress May Have To Aid Insurers During ObamaCare Transition
A top Republican lawmaker indicated Wednesday that Congress might have to provide financial assistance to insurance companies to keep the individual market from collapsing during the transition away from ObamaCare. Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said Republicans might have to step outside of their comfort zone soon to prevent insurers from bailing out of the market and leaving millions without healthcare. (Hellmann, 2/1)
CQ Roll Call: Insurers, State Officials Press Congress For Answers By March
Insurance company officials and their state regulators had a clear message for Republicans Wednesday: Within the next month, we need your plans to repeal and replace the health care law...That timeline gives Republican lawmakers just weeks to draft and pass a repeal bill and outline major elements of their replacement package, even as leaders continue to say they will wait to make major decisions until Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., is confirmed as Department of Health and Human Services secretary. He was approved by only Republicans in a quickly scheduled meeting of the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday and is expected to face a Senate floor vote later this month. (Mershon, 2/1)
Meanwhile, lawmakers signal a willingness to stabilize the markets —
Modern Healthcare: Republican Senators Say Fixing Individual Market Should Be First Step In ACA Repeal
Republican lawmakers say that as they consider ways to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, they want to first take measures to stabilize the individual marketplace before focusing on efforts to reform Medicaid and roll back expansion. During a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing Wednesday aimed at assessing the stability of the individual insurance market, Chairman Alexander Lamar (R-Tenn.) suggested the marketplace was in danger. (Dickson, 2/1)
Morning Consult: Alexander: GOP May Need To Fund Some Of ACA To Keep Market Afloat
A senior Republican said lawmakers may need to fund Affordable Care Act programs that they haven’t given money to in recent years in order to stabilize the individual insurance market, even as the GOP works to repeal and replace the same health care law. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told reporters Wednesday that Republicans may need to fund the ACA’s cost-sharing reduction or reinsurance programs, even though they don’t support them, so health insurers continue to sell to individuals. (McIntire, 2/1)
