Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Obama Thanks Insurers For Sticking With ACA Marketplace Through 'Growing Pains'
The Wall Street Journal: Obama Pledges Redoubled Efforts To Make Health Law Successful
President Barack Obama made a personal bid Monday to shore up his signature health law as it heads into its final test of his administration, urging insurers selling plans on HealthCare.gov to stay the course and pledging redoubled efforts by the government to make the law a success. In a letter released publicly by the White House on Monday, Mr. Obama thanked insurers for participating in the health exchanges the federal government runs on behalf of three dozen states, which the Obama administration calls ‘the Marketplace,’ and acknowledged some of its recent turbulence. (Tau and Radnofsky, 9/12)
Modern Healthcare: Obama Meets With Remaining Insurers On ACA Exchanges
Following the exodus of UnitedHealthcare and Aetna from insurance exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama met Monday with the heads of some of the remaining payers to discuss the future of the federal insurance marketplace. The morning meeting took place before a series of congressional hearings this week that focus on rising premiums and limited exchange participation. (Dickson, 9/12)
The Associated Press: Obama Tells Insurers New Enterprises Have Growing Pains
President Barack Obama says he knows that progress in reducing the uninsured rate hasn't been without challenges. Obama says in a letter to the nation's health insurers that most new enterprises have growing pains and opportunities for improvement, and the health insurance marketplace shaped by his health care law, "while strong, is no exception." (9/12)
Reuters: Obama Asks U.S. Insurers For Help Enrolling The Young And Healthy
President Barack Obama on Monday urged U.S. insurers offering coverage next year under his national healthcare law to step up their efforts to enroll those who remain uninsured, especially younger and healthier Americans. Several big insurers, including UnitedHealth Group Inc, Aetna Inc and Humana Inc, have announced they will pull back from the Obamacare individual insurance market in 2017, citing financial losses due to the costs of covering members who are sicker than expected. (Kelly, 9/12)
Bloomberg: Obama Tries To Sell Insurers On Obamacare After 2016 Defections
President Barack Obama met with top executives from more than a dozen health insurers, including Humana Inc. and Cigna Corp., to re-affirm his support for the Affordable Care Act after several companies retreated from the law’s government-run insurance markets. Obama dropped in on a meeting on Monday in Washington between top White House health officials and the executives before the 2017 enrollment period, according to a White House official. Earlier in the day, the president sent a letter to all companies offering coverage in Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges. (Olorunnipa, 9/12)
Morning Consult: Obama, Insurers Meet To Discuss ACA Participation
President Obama and senior administration officials met with leaders from insurance companies participating in Affordable Care Act exchanges on Monday, underscoring the importance of their participation on the marketplace. The president also wrote a letter to all participating insurers in which he stressed the administration’s commitment to working with them and discussed recent actions the White House has taken to improve the marketplace. (Owens, 9/12)
The Hill: Insurance Executives Ask For Changes To ObamaCare
Health insurance executives went to the White House on Monday and called for changes to ObamaCare that they say are necessary to keep the healthcare exchanges working. The executives discussed a series of their long-running complaints about ObamaCare including tightening up the rules for extra sign-up periods, shortening grace periods for people who fail to pay their premiums and easing restrictions on setting premiums based on someone’s age. (Sullivan, 9/12)
