Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Lawmakers Turn Toward Fixes To Affordable Care Act That Have History Of Bipartisan Support
Politico: Centrist Lawmakers Plot Bipartisan Health Care Stabilization Bill
A coalition of roughly 40 House Republicans and Democrats plan to unveil a slate of Obamacare fixes Monday they hope will gain traction after the Senate’s effort to repeal the law imploded. The Problem Solvers caucus, led by Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), is fronting the effort to stabilize the ACA markets, according to multiple sources. But other centrist members, including Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), and several other lawmakers from the New Democrat Coalition and the GOP’s moderate Tuesday Group are also involved. (Caygle and Demko, 7/30)
The Hill: Dems Pivot To Offering ObamaCare Improvements
House Democrats are poised to advance a flood of proposals designed to address the problems dogging President Obama's signature healthcare law — a move that puts pressure on Republican and Democratic leaders alike. The strategy marks a pivot for the Democrats, as party leaders have throughout the year discouraged members from offering improvements to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), fearing they would highlight problems with the law and divert attention from the Republicans’ months-long struggle to repeal and replace it. (Lillis, 7/29)
The Washington Post: What’s Next For The Affordable Care Act Now That Repeal Has Failed?
The Affordable Care Act has reshaped the nation’s health-care landscape in a way the country has not seen since the passage of Great Society programs in the 1960s. For more than seven years, it has been the foundation for a slew of new regulations and a massive redistribution of funds within the medical system. And it has changed what Americans expect of their government — which is why Republicans, despite having used the ACA as a political rallying cry for seven years, have encountered such difficulty in peeling it back. (Eilperin, 7/28)
The New York Times: How To Repair The Health Law (It’s Tricky But Not Impossible)
Republicans have failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Now, can it be repaired? The seven-year-old law has survived Supreme Court decisions and aggressive attempts to extinguish it by Republicans in Congress and the White House. But even people who rely on its coverage agree that it still has big problems. The question for the roughly 20 million Americans who buy their own health coverage — and for millions of others who remain uninsured — is what can realistically be done to address their main concerns: high prices and lack of choice in many parts of the country. (Abelson, Goodnough and Thomas, 7/29)
Boston Globe: Ed Markey Hopes Health Care Vote Will ‘Signal A New Era’ In Bipartisan Collaboration
After hours of debating and voting on the Senate floor late Thursday night, Senator Ed Markey said he was relieved to see the Senate uphold Obamacare. The 49-51 vote, which came out at about 1:30 a.m. on Friday, was yet another blow to the GOP, which has spent months hoping to pass legislation that would repeal and replace the Obama-era health care policy. (Gans, 7/28)
The CT Mirror: Blumenthal, Murphy Join Dem Chorus On Bipartisan ACA Fix, But That May Be Elusive
On Friday morning, Schumer. D-N.Y., spoke with House Speaker Paul Ryan about doing something insurers say will help stabilize the market for individual insurance policies that are at the center of Obamacare. Insurers want assurances the federal government will continue to pay cost-sharing reduction subsidies that lower the cost of co-pays and deductibles for lower-income Americans who purchase policies on state exchanges like Connecticut’s Access Health CT. (Radelat, 7/28)
Bloomberg: Republicans Face Tough Choice: Repeal Obamacare Or Cut Taxes
After the collapse of Obamacare repeal, Republicans may have to choose between pursuing another health bill or pushing through a tax overhaul this year, because there’s almost certainly not enough time to do both. And that’s not even their biggest problem -- which is, they can’t agree on either. (Dennis, 7/31)
