Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Loopholes Built Into GOP Plan That Would Let States Bypass Preexisting Conditions Guarantees
Kaiser Health News: Promises Made To Protect Preexisting Conditions Prove Hollow
Senate Republicans praised the Affordable Care Act replacement bill they presented Thursday as preserving coverage for people with cancer, mental illness and other chronic illness. But the legislation may do no such thing, according to health law experts who have read it closely. (Hancock and Bluth, 6/22)
The Wall Street Journal: Assessing The Impact Of The Senate GOP Health Bill
The ACA’s protections for people with costly pre-existing medical conditions would stay in place. That means insurance companies couldn’t deny people with pre-existing conditions health coverage or charge them higher premiums. Under the House bill, insurers in some states could charge sicker people higher premiums, which conservative House lawmakers argued could help lower premiums for other people. But Senate lawmakers rejected that idea. States could get waivers to roll back benefits that must now be required under the ACA, and that could leave people with certain medical conditions paying more for their coverage. (Hackman, 6/22)
The Associated Press: How The Senate Health Bill Compares To House,' Obamacare'
The bill's impact on personal health care costs would be uneven: Premiums would likely go down for younger people, but older people would pay more. Out-of-pocket costs to cover insurance deductibles and co-payments would go up. For those who believe the government is too involved in health care, the Senate bill stands as an overdue course correction. But those who believe health care is a right will see it as a step back. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/23)
Politico: Winners And Losers From The Senate Repeal Bill
The Senate plan, like the House bill, would allow insurers to charge their older customers up to five times as much as younger customers for the same health plan. That’s an expansion of the so-called age band in Obamacare, which allows insurers to charge older customers no more than three times as much as younger ones. In two years, the Senate plan would also eliminate a key subsidy program that helps cover out-of-pocket medical bills for low-income consumers. (6/22)
Kaiser Health News: Winners And Losers: 40 Is Old In Senate GOP Health Plan’s Subsidy Structure
People getting subsidies to help buy health insurance would see at least three sharp changes — tied to both age and income — that could dramatically affect how much they pay for coverage if the Senate Republican health plan becomes law. The Senate bill released Thursday would reduce the income thresholds that determine eligibility, change the amount people who receive help pay toward their insurance premiums and peg subsidies to less generous coverage. (Appleby, 6/22)
The Washington Post: Senate GOP Bill Would Gut Critical Public Health Funding This Fall
The health-care bill that Senate Republicans released Thursday would eliminate critical funds for core public health programs that make up about 12 percent of the budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The money supports programs to prevent bioterrorism and disease outbreaks, as well as to provide immunizations and screenings for cancer and heart disease. (Sun, 6/22)
The Washington Post: Republicans’ Obamacare Repeal Bill Has A Small Bonus Just For Insurance CEOs
Health insurance executives stand to be the sole beneficiaries of a small provision in Republicans' bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Both the House and Senate repeal measures would free insurance companies from a part of the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare — that effectively makes it more expensive for them to pay their CEOs. (Ehrenfreund, 6/22)
