Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
U.S. Returning To Pre-ACA Days Where How Much You Pay For Insurance Is All About Location, Location, Location
The Wall Street Journal: Health-Care Coverage Is Increasingly Determined By Where You Live
Robert Kingsland will have to pay hundreds of dollars if he goes without insurance next year, even though Congress recently repealed the Affordable Care Act’s penalty for not having coverage. That is because his home state of New Jersey just imposed a fine of its own for letting insurance lapse. In California, Aaron Brown’s small business association likely won’t be able to provide the cheaper health policies promoted by the Trump administration. California banned the creation of many associations that offer such policies. (Armour, 7/18)
Politico: Trump Promised Them Better, Cheaper Health Care. It’s Not Happening.
President Donald Trump handed an influential business advocacy group what should have been a historic lobbying victory when he recently rolled out new rules encouraging small businesses to band together to offer health insurance. Trump, who’s touted the expansion of so-called association health plans as a key plank in his strategy to tear down Obamacare, even announced the rules at the 75th anniversary party of the National Federation of Independent Business last month, claiming the group’s members will save “massive amounts of money” and have better care if they join forces to offer coverage to workers. (Cancryn, 7/19)
In other health law news —
The Associated Press: US Judge Throws Out Suit Over Health Subsidy Cuts
A U.S. judge in San Francisco has thrown out a lawsuit over the Trump administration's decision to cut Affordable Care Act subsidies. The ruling by Judge Vince Chhabria on Wednesday came after California and other states that sued said a workaround was largely succeeding in protecting consumers from higher costs. (7/18)
