Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Majority Of People Say It's Important To Keep Health Law's Pre-Exisiting Conditions Protections, Poll Finds
The Hill: Poll: Pre-Existing Condition Protections A Top Health Issue
The majority of people in a new poll say it’s important to them that ObamaCare’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions aren’t endangered. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest tracking poll, majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents surveyed said it is “very important” to them that ObamaCare’s provisions protecting those with preexisting conditions remain law. (Weixel, 6/27)
Kaiser Health News: ACA Protections For Sick Patients Still Popular Despite GOP’s Efforts To End Them
As the 2018 congressional elections near, Democratic and independent voters identify health care as “the most important issue” for candidates to discuss. Support for the provision is especially strong among households where someone has a preexisting condition. But it remains a second-tier priority for Republican voters, according to the poll, nearly tied with immigration and behind the economy and jobs. Nearly 6 in 10 Republican voters place a priority on a candidate’s support for repealing the health law. (Rau, 6/27)
Kaiser Health News: ‘You Can’t Have Perfection’: Lawmakers Who Forged ACA Look Back
Former Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and former Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and George Miller (D-Calif.) and retiring Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) led the five key committees that pushed the Affordable Care Act toward its passage in 2010. They joined Kaiser Health News’ Julie Rovner during a session at the annual Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado to discuss the partisan battles over the ACA, how their efforts in Congress differed from an earlier effort by the Clinton administration to revamp health care, and the problems that arose because they couldn’t get a bill through Congress to make corrections to the ACA. (6/27)
Reuters: Notre Dame Students Sue School, White House Over Birth Control Policy
Students at the University of Notre Dame on Tuesday sued the Indiana school and the Trump administration over a move this year to drop coverage for some forms of birth control from the university's health insurance plan, citing religious objections. The suit touches on two hot-button issues that have been key parts of President Donald Trump's agenda - scaling back the 2010 U.S. healthcare reform law known as Obamacare and promoting the rights of organizations with religious affiliations. Notre Dame was founded by a Roman Catholic religious order, and Catholic teaching prohibits most forms of birth control. (Cherelus, 6/26)
And in Kansas —
KCUR: Medica Becomes Third Insurer To Join Kansas City Affordable Care Act Exchange In 2019
Insurance customers in Kansas City will have an additional option on the Affordable Care Act marketplace starting in 2019. Medica, an insurance company based in Minneapolis, announced Monday it will sell individual plans on the exchange to customers in Cass, Clay, Jackson and Platte counties in Missouri. It began selling insurance plans on the exchange last year to Kansas customers in Johnson and Wyandotte counties. The insurer's coverage is mainly limited to providers in the Saint Luke's Health System. (Smith, 6/26)
Kansas City Star: Medica To Sell Obamacare Plans In Kansas City, Mo.
“We’re really excited to be able to expand our service area and expand that partnership with St. Luke’s," said Geoff Bartsh, Medica's vice president and general manager of individual and family business. "We think we’re going to have a competitive product out there and our goal is to get to know the folks in Missouri and begin building trust with them.” (Marso, 6/26)
