Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New York Takes 'Aggressive' Steps To Keep Obamacare Marketplaces Stable
The Wall Street Journal: Gov. Cuomo Adds Emergency Regulations To Maintain Obamacare
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday issued emergency regulations aimed at deterring insurers from leaving the state’s Affordable Care Act exchange market as Congress weighs repealing former President Barack Obama’s signature health-insurance law. The ACA, often dubbed “Obamacare,” set up marketplaces where consumers can buy coverage from different insurers and obtain federal subsidies to help with the cost. But the House of Representatives has passed legislation that would bring huge changes to the current exchange markets. The Senate is working on its own version of the bill. (Vilensky and Wilde Mathews, 6/5)
Bloomberg: Cuomo Takes Steps To Keep New York Insurers In Obamacare
New York insurers have concerns about the plan, especially since the regulations to put it in place aren’t yet available, said Leslie Moran, senior vice president at the New York Health Plan Association. “We’re not sure that they can legally just say we won’t contract, because there are already contracts in place,” she said. “We just have some questions and concerns about where they’re trying to go with that.” (Tracer, 6/5)
In other Medicaid news —
The New York Times: Obamacare Didn’t Destroy Insurance Markets, But It Also Didn’t Fix Them
Republican lawmakers and President Trump have criticized Obamacare, saying it took away people’s ability to choose their health plans and doctors, pointing to a recent exodus of insurers that could leave areas with a single insurer or none at all. Mr. Trump has insisted the markets are failing. Supporters of the Affordable Care Act hoped the law would spur more competition among insurers across the country. But so far, the law has not delivered on that promise, especially in states that never had much competition, but it didn’t create the lack of choice in those states, according to a Times analysis of insurer participation provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (Abelson and Park, 6/6)
