Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Parsing The Key Issues: Who Wins And Loses; Impact On The Opioid Crisis
Los Angeles Times: Who Wins And Who Loses In The Senate Health Bill (As If You Can't Guess)
The Senate GOP leadership calls its proposal to overhaul Obamacare the “Better Care” act. But better care for whom? Not for the working poor. The bill’s new premium subsidies for those not covered by large employer health plans would be less generous than they are now, pushing recipients into policies with higher deductibles and co-pays. And when the new subsidies begin in 2020, the bill would end the second set of subsidies that the Affordable Care Act provided those near the poverty line to offset their out-of-pocket costs. (6/23)
Huffington Post: If You Love High Deductibles, Then You’ll Love The Senate Health Bill
If the GOP proposal becomes law, then it’s likely out-of-pocket costs for people buying coverage through healthcare.gov or one of the state exchanges would tend to be higher, not lower ― unless these people were able and willing to pay even more in premiums. ... The essential reality of the repeal effort ― one worth keeping in mind over the next few days, amid all the legislative negotiation over policy details ― is that Republicans want to reduce government spending on the poor and middle class. And less government spending for these people means, almost inevitably, that they will pay for a greater portion of their medical care. Either fewer will have insurance, the insurance they have will offer less protection, or both. It’s just a question of who suffers and how. (Jonathan Cohn, 6/22)
The New York Times: Shifting Dollars From Poor To Rich Is A Key Part Of The Senate Health Bill
The Affordable Care Act gave health insurance to millions of Americans by shifting resources from the wealthy to the poor and by moving oversight from states to the federal government. The Senate bill introduced Thursday pushes back forcefully on both dimensions. The bill is aligned with long-held Republican values, advancing states’ rights and paring back growing entitlement programs, while freeing individuals from requirements that they have insurance and emphasizing personal responsibility. (Margot Sanger-Katz, 6/22)
The New York Times: Get Cancer Now, Before Congress Cuts Your Insurance
I’m 35 years old. I didn’t go to college after high school. Instead I got a job in insurance, and I’ve spent half my life on the business side of keeping people healthy. Only once have I felt that the industry took positive steps toward insuring America, and that was when Obamacare mandated it. I assumed Donald Trump’s presidency would doom the law. A Republican replacement, which could cut off insurance for millions of people, may pass the Senate as soon as next week. And I fear that most Americans, who don’t really worry about their health until they get sick, won’t be willing to fight against it. (Justin Ordonez, 6/23)
Miami Herald: GOP Health Bill Will Worsen Opioid Crisis
It’s true. This feels like the center of the opioid crisis in America. But so do West Virginia and Maryland and Massachusetts and hamlets with such names as Pleasantville, Welch and Delray Beach. It is foolish to deny this is a catastrophe; ridiculous to think it is not affecting every American family. Believing that overdosing and addiction only happen to the poor and disadvantaged or celebrities such as Prince and Carrie Fisher is even worse than arguing that extreme droughts, floods, blizzards and other anomalies — such as the air being too hot for planes to get enough lift to take off — are not related to climate change. (Ann McFeatters, 6/23)
The Des Moines Register: GOP Health Bill Is A Disaster For Opioid Crisis
America’s addiction crisis is the defining public health challenge of our time. In 2015, more than 52,000 Americans died of drug overdoses, the majority related to opioids — far more than died from car accidents. More than 20 million Americans live with substance use disorders, leading to immeasurable suffering for individuals and families and costing our nation a staggering $442 billion in health care costs, lost productivity and criminal justice expenses. (Vivek Murthy, 6/22)
The New England Journal Of Medicine: Turmoil In The Individual Insurance Market — Where It Came From And How To Fix It
In recent weeks, some health insurers have announced that they will not offer individual market coverage in 2018, while others have requested sizable premium increases. In response to this news, President Donald Trump has pronounced the individual market structure created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) “dead.” Similarly, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has claimed that the market is experiencing a “death spiral” reflecting fundamental flaws in the ACA’s design. These claims misdiagnose the situation. The ACA’s individual market structure — though not perfect — is sound and has succeeded in greatly expanding coverage. As 2017 began, the market was poised to leave behind the growing pains of the past few years. Then the President and Congress acted to create needless turmoil. (Henry J. Aaron, Matthew Fiedler, Paul B. Ginsburg, Loren Adler and Alice M. Rivlin, 6/21)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Anthem’s Withdrawal Is The Latest Obamacare Failure In Wisconsin
On Wednesday, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield announced it would pull out of Wisconsin’s health insurance market, making it the fifth health insurer to leave the state’s marketplace since the implementation of President Barack Obama’s disastrous health care law, ironically coined the Affordable Care Act. This devastating development will leave thousands of Wisconsinites without their preferred health insurance at the end of this year — another blow to a state that’s been hit repeatedly with a string of knocks dealt by the repercussions of Obamacare. (Jim Sensenbrenner, 6/22)
