Thoughts On Repeal: Risks Comes With Delay Strategy; Businesses Need To Weigh In
Opinion writers offer their views on the politics of repealing and replacing the federal health law.
Health Affairs:
The Problems With ‘Repeal And Delay’
Republican leaders in Congress and the incoming Trump administration have said that they plan to move quickly to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the early weeks of 2017, with a delay in the date of when key aspects of the repeal would become effective until perhaps 2019 or 2020. ... We do not support this approach to repealing and replacing the ACA because it carries too much risk of unnecessary disruption to the existing insurance arrangements upon which many people are now relying to finance their health services, and because it is unlikely to produce a coherent reform of health care in the United States. (Joseph Antos and James Capretta, 1/3)
The Wall Street Journal:
Stand Up For ObamaCare, CEOs
America’s CEOs might not admit it in public, but the Affordable Care Act — aka ObamaCare — has been good for business. Company benefits managers have watched as the double-digit premium increases under President George W. Bush slowed to a crawl. Venture funding has flooded into health care, boosting startups and stimulating innovation. This is the progress President Obama is trying to preserve as he meets Wednesday with Democrats on Capitol Hill in a strategy session about how to protect the health law. (Annie Lamont and Ezekiel J. Emanuel, 1/3)
The New York Times:
A Bipartisan Reason To Save Obamacare
The A.C.A. is more than insurance. As the Times reported yesterday, the law is leading a transformation of America’s health care system. It’s a change that nearly everyone, Republicans and Democrats, agrees is desperately needed — and for it to happen, the relevant parts of the A.C.A. must be preserved. The transformation moves health care away from a fee-for-service model, which pays doctors and hospitals according to the number of procedures they do, toward value-based care, which pays based on what helps patients get better. (Tina Rosenberg, 1/4)
JAMA Internal Medicine:
Alternative Alternative Payment Models
Some of the most promising strategies for controlling spending and improving the quality of care delivered in the United States are payment reforms that aim to give health care providers an incentive to improve value. Health care providers are often in the best position to identify ways to reduce waste and help their patients chose the most efficient sites and types of care. Giving health care providers a financial stake in driving value can be much more effective and palatable than runaway health care spending, pushing the risk onto patients, or subjecting them to one-size-fits-all insurer rules. (Katherine Baicker and Michael E. Chernew, 1/3)
Stat:
Behavioral Science Suggests That Obamacare May Survive
Perhaps Obama is seeking to capitalize on the well-studied phenomenon known as loss aversion. In a nutshell, loss aversion means that it feels worse to lose something than never to have had it in the first place. Consumers, including those signing up for health insurance, tend to make relative judgments about their own welfare, rather than absolute judgments, and losses loom larger than gains. By urging more Americans to enroll for health insurance now, Obama is simultaneously satisfying an ethical responsibility for expanded insurance coverage and making it more difficult for Republicans to dismantle the ACA. The more people who are insured, the more who will object when this benefit stands to be lost. (Christopher T. Robertson, Holly Fernandez Lynch and I. Glenn Cohen, 1/3)
JAMA:
Health Care In The United States: A Right Or A Privilege
The United States is about to embark on a great challenge: how to modify the current system of providing health care coverage for its citizens. However, the fundamental underlying question remains unanswered and was rarely mentioned during the past 8 years — Is health care coverage a basic right or a privilege (regardless of how that coverage is provided or who provides it)? Until that question is debated and answered, it may not be possible to reach consensus on the ultimate goal of further health care reform. (Howard Bauchner, 1/3)
Huffington Post:
Kellyanne Conway Makes Some Surprisingly Tempered Comments On Obamacare
Kellyanne Conway was on television Tuesday morning, talking about Obamacare in a way that could signal differences between President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans ― or that could mean nothing at all. During an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Conway, a key Trump adviser, said that simultaneously repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act ― rather than repealing it first ― is “the ideal situation. Let’s see what happens practically. Some experts say it could take years to complete the process.” (Jonathan Cohn, 1/3)
Forbes:
Learning From CBO's History Of Incorrect ObamaCare Projections
As Congress readies legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates will play an important and respected role as they did in the passage of the law in 2010. We now know that many of CBO’s projections of important aspects of the ACA have significantly differed from actual outcomes. (Brian Blase, 1/2)
The Wall Street Journal:
Obama Can’t Redefine Sex
Among President Obama’s ironic legacies will be how frequently this former teacher of constitutional law has been called out by the federal courts for his aggressive abuse of executive power. The latest rebuke came on the last day of 2016 in federal court in Texas. Judge Reed O’Connor sided with eight states and three private health-care providers that sued to block a new Health and Human Services rule. This rule defines the Affordable Care Act’s prohibitions against sex discrimination in a way that plaintiffs say will force doctors, hospitals and insurers that take federal funds to cover or perform abortions and gender-transition procedures even when this runs against their best medical judgment or religious beliefs. (1/3)
Miami Herald:
Medicare May Be Under Assault In The Newly Convened Republican-Controlled Congress
It’s not just Obamacare that will be under assault in 2017. Medicare may also get a makeover when the new Republican-controlled Congress convenes Tuesday. While on the campaign trail President-elect Donald Trump promised to leave retirement programs alone, but senior advocates and political pundits alike say House Republicans have long wanted to change the national insurance program that provides healthcare to more than 55 million Americans who are 65 or older and younger people with disabilities. (Ana Veciana-Suarez, 1/3)
