Scales Of Federal Power Could Be Tipped By Wonky Insurance Subsidies Battle
The fight between Democrats and Republicans over Affordable Care Act spending goes beyond health care. In other health law news, insurers are fighting legislation aimed at slashing the risk corridor program, and numbers out of Kansas offer a glimpse of stability in an increasingly turbulent marketplace.
The New York Times:
How An Arcane Spending Fight Could Alter The Federal Balance Of Power
The fight between House Republicans and the Obama administration over billions of dollars in disputed health care spending sounds arcane, but it could have major — some might say huge — consequences for our constitutional democracy. Consider it in this context: How would lawmakers react if a willful new chief executive, unable to win money from Congress for a wall on the Mexican border, simply shifted $7 billion from another account and built it anyway? How about if a future president were so determined to cut college costs that she bypassed Congress and funneled billions of dollars into a new tuition grant program without approval? (Hulse, 7/11)
Roll Call:
Insurers Rally To Defend Obamacare Risk Payments
Insurers are ramping up lobbying to defeat legislation that would limit their payments under one of the 2010 health law's stabilization programs, according to congressional staff and outside experts. The bill (S 2803), from Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse would slash in half the Department of Health and Human Services general management budget, unless the agency pays certain funds from the so-called reinsurance program to the Treasury Department. Until now, the agency has prioritized its payments to insurance companies and not yet paid into the Treasury, a practice it has justified under the health law. (Mershon, 7/11)
Kansas Health Institute:
Most Kansans Make Payments For 2016 Marketplace Insurance
Almost nine out of every 10 Kansans who selected health insurance on the federal online marketplace paid for at least the first month of their coverage this year, offering one bit of stability in the sometimes-turbulent marketplace. Critics of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, questioned whether people who signed up for coverage actually would pay their premiums after the exchanges’ troubled rollout in late 2013 and early 2014. (Hart, 7/11)
