Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Republicans Hold High-Risk Maneuver To Sabotage ACA
Politico: Trump Could Blow Up Obamacare With One Move
President Trump says that Obamacare is going to explode. But if that happens, it is likely because his administration supplies the spark that detonates the marketplaces. The White House could decide at any time to eliminate subsidies relied upon by insurers to lower costs for Obamacare’s poorest customers, as a result of a court win by House Republicans last spring. (Demko, 3/29)
The Washington Post: Here’s When We’ll Know The Future Of Obamacare
President Trump and his fellow Republicans have failed, at least for now, in their bid to repeal Obamacare entirely, but they still have plenty of ways to cripple the law without pulling it off the books. By blocking funding for subsidies or refusing to enforce the individual mandate, the administration and congressional Republicans could undermine the law's insurance exchanges -- government-established marketplaces where individuals can buy health insurance from private companies, often with the help of federal subsidies. The exchanges and an expanded Medicaid program are the main programs in Obamacare, officially known as the Affordable Care Act, aimed at expanding coverage to the uninsured. (Johnson, 3/28)
The Hill: Top House Republicans Favor Funding Key ObamaCare Payments
Key House Republicans on healthcare say they want to find a way to fund ObamaCare payments that they previously sued the Obama administration over. The payments, known as cost-sharing reductions, reimburse insurers for providing discounted deductibles for low-income ObamaCare enrollees. If the payments were canceled, insurers warn they could pull out of the market because of the hole left in their budgets, causing chaos. (Sullivan, 3/28)
The Hill: Insurers Face Big Choice On Staying In ObamaCare
While President Trump touts his prediction that ObamaCare will soon “explode,” insurers are making decisions about whether to participate in the law’s marketplaces in 2018. Insurers have about six weeks to finalize their plans and rates or to decide to leave the marketplace altogether as they await word from Trump and Congress about the future of insurer payments created under the Affordable Care Act. The president, however, is signaling that he has little interest in taking steps to keep insurers from dropping out of ObamaCare. (Hellmann, 3/29)
Morning Consult: Insurers Struggle To Plan For Future Amid Health Care Policy Vacuum
Health insurers have between two and three months to plan out what they’re doing in individual health markets next year, but last week’s implosion of the GOP health care bill has only added to uncertainty about the future of the marketplaces. With Republicans pulling their health care bill from the floor last week, insurers must figure out their 2018 plans and rate requests for participation in the Affordable Care Act exchanges without knowing whether the Trump administration will be friendly or hostile to the health care law that remains the law of the land, at least for now. (McIntire, 3/28)
Marketplace: Think Obamacare Is Safe? HHS Chief Tom Price Can Still Make Changes
We've said it, President Trump said it, even House Speaker Paul Ryan said it. Obamacare is here to stay — for now. Conservatives must work within the confines of the Affordable Care Act. But Tom Price, as head of Health and Human Services, can still make lots of changes on his own. (Gorenstein, 3/28)
Kaiser Health News: On The Air With KHN: What’s Next For The Affordable Care Act?
On Friday, House Republican leaders failed to secure enough support to pass their plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Reporters with Kaiser Health News and California Healthline (produced by KHN) have appeared on numerous radio and television shows in recent days to assess what’s next for the health law. Listen to what they had to say below. (3/28)
The Fiscal Times: 3 Ways To Transform The Health Care System For An Aging Population
Some say Trump and the Republicans will let the Affordable Care Act collapse, while others think the ACA will be amended piece by piece. But both sides are asking the wrong questions – or rather, aren’t asking the right one: How can the U.S. health care system be reconstructed for an aging population? Answering this question could provide the opportunity to forge fresh, bipartisan solutions for the most important health care megatrend of the 21st century. (Hodin, 3/28)
