Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Promises Health Plan Will Be Coming 'In A Couple Of Weeks'
The Hill: Trump: ObamaCare Replacement Coming In 'A Couple Of Weeks'
President Trump said on Saturday that a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act will come "in a couple of weeks." "We are going to be submitting in a couple of weeks a great healthcare plan that's going to take the place of the disaster known as ObamaCare," he said at a campaign rally in Melbourne, Fla. "It will be repealed and replaced." "Just so you understand, our plan will be much better healthcare at a much lower cost," he added. "OK? Nothing to complain about." (Greenwood, 2/18)
CQ Roll Call: Appropriators Watch Trump's Next Move On Obamacare Lawsuit
The Trump administration faces a key legal deadline Tuesday in the push to repeal and replace the 2010 health care law — and it could prompt Republican lawmakers to appropriate funds for a part of the statute they once sued to stop. The Justice Department will tell a federal appeals court what it sees as the future of a lawsuit over appropriations for subsidy payments to health insurance providers under the law (PL 111-148, PL 111-152), estimated at $175 billion over 10 years. House Republicans filed the lawsuit in 2014 to stop the payments, as a response to a series of President Barack Obama’s unilateral executive actions that they said were unconstitutional. (Ruger and Mejdrich, 2/21)
The Hill: Trump Officials Weigh Fate Of Birth-Control Mandate
The era of free birth control for women could be coming to an end. The requirement that insurance companies cover contraception at no cost is believed to be on the chopping block now that Tom Price has taken over the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Price opposed the mandate as a member of Congress and could take aim at the regulation — and other rules related to ObamaCare — as Republicans in Congress move to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. (Hellmann, 2/21)
And in other news on Trump —
Stat: Trump Attends Controversial Dana-Farber Fundraiser At Mar-A-Lago
President Trump attended Saturday night’s fundraising ball for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which was held at Mar-a-Lago — his Florida home and so-called winter White House. While the Harvard-affiliated Boston hospital has held the posh annual event at the private club since 2011, and in 2008, this year’s gala drew criticism from Dana-Farber’s staff and Harvard medical students, who saw Trump’s actions, especially his executive order on immigration, as in direct conflict with the hospital’s mission. Dana-Farber declined to cancel, saying it was too late to change plans, but said it would avoid “controversial venues” in the future. (Swetlitz, 2/19)
