Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Policy Implications: The GOP Bill's Math Problems; The Importance Of Funding CHIP
The Washington Post: Tens Of Millions Of Americans Could Lose Obamacare Tax Credits Because Thousands Of Alaskans Won’t
American politics is always a math problem. If you have a group of x people, you need (x/2) + 1 votes to win the most votes. That holds true for most elections pitting two candidates against each other, and it holds true for passing legislation. In the case of Cassidy-Graham, the clumsily named bill that is the latest and last iteration of Republican efforts to gut the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, the x is 100 — the number of votes in the Senate. Thanks to two quirks of the process, the legislation would pass with just (x/2) votes, with the +1 being added by VPOTUS-ex-machina Mike Pence. (Philip Bump, 9/21)
Kansas City Star: Congress Must Fund CHIP To Ensure Children's Health
Ninety thousand Missouri children and 80,000 in Kansas are at risk of losing their health insurance if Congress does not act before the end of September to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. (Judy Dungan, 9/21)
Los Angeles Times: Believe It Or Not, Graham-Cassidy Socializes The Cost Of Health Insurance
There are plenty of things wrong with the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson proposal to overhaul Obamacare (and Medicaid, while it’s at it), from its cockamamie approach to helping people not insured by their employers to its blithe indifference to the rising cost of medical care. But give sponsoring Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) credit for doing something remarkable: They got even the most conservative of their Republican colleagues to agree to socialize more of the cost of health insurance. (Jon Healey, 9/21)
The Washington Post: Republicans’ Brave New Strategy For Fixing The U.S. Health-Care System
Republicans have unveiled their brave new strategy for fixing the U.S. health-care system: Make someone else deal with it. Of all the god-awful Obamacare-repeal-and-replace plans that Republicans have proposed, Cassidy-Graham might be the god-awfulest. It’s definitely the most cowardly. Republicans spent nine months fighting over how to repeal Obamacare without shafting the poor and enraging voters, and they failed. So instead they’re passing the buck. (Catherine Rampell, 9/21)
San Antonio Press-Express: Health Insurance Tax Hurts Texas Business
The National Federation of Independent Business estimates Texas could lose between 7,323 and 14,463 jobs by 2023 if Congress does not act now to stop the rising costs of health care. (Moseley, 9/21)
