Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump's Ambivalence On Insurers' Payments Hobbles States' Efforts To Maintain Marketplaces
The Hill: States Scramble To Prevent ObamaCare Exodus
Insurance commissioners are pulling out all the stops to keep insurers from leaving their states amid uncertainty over ObamaCare's future. They are offering insurers new, previously unheard of flexibilities to try to keep them in the market. But the effort faces an uphill climb, given the Trump administration's wobbling over whether it will continue federal payments that compensate insurers for subsidizing out-of-pocket costs for lower-income households. There's also the question of whether Congress will repeal ObamaCare this year. (Roubein and Weixel, 6/4)
Nashville Tennessean: Predicting Which Texas Insurance Carrier Might Enter Tennessee
Tennessee’s individual insurance market has hit a rough patch over the last few years, as BlueCross BlueShield left the Nashville market and UnitedHealthcare and Humana pulled out of the Affordable Care Act exchanges altogether. But reports that a new carrier might enter the state could change this dynamic. The Tennessean recently reported that Tennessee’s insurance commissioner, Julie Mix McPeak, said that a Texas health insurer was considering entering a metro Tennessee market in 2018. This news could give health insurance consumers in Nashville, Memphis or Chattanooga more choices than initially expected. (Tolbert, 6/4)
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Eyes On Centene To Fill Void After Obamacare Insurer Bails On Parts Of Missouri
When certain insurance companies have bailed on the Obamacare exchanges in the past — potentially leaving residents of entire counties without a single option for affordable health coverage — an insurer has always stepped up to fill the void. But it’s unclear if any insurer will extend marketplace coverage to the 25 Missouri counties that will be left with no carriers in 2018, potentially leaving 67,000 people in the western part of the state without coverage options. A series of actions undertaken by President Donald Trump’s administration over the last five months has made insurers wary of the government-run marketplaces that have already exposed some to significant financial losses. (Liss, 6/4)
