Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Uninsured Rate Hits Record Low, But Pace Of Progress Drastically Slows
The Wall Street Journal: Percentage Of Uninsured Historically Low
The number of uninsured people in the U.S. remained at a historic low in early 2016, according to a federal survey that found 8.6% of respondents without health coverage at the time of the interview. That translates to about 27.3 million people who lacked medical insurance when they were asked about it between January and March as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Interview Survey. The previous survey, covering the whole of 2015, had put the figure at 9.1%, or about 1.3 million more people. CDC officials said the latest reduction wasn’t statistically significant. (Radnofsky, 9/7)
The Associated Press: Government Survey Shows Health Insurance Gains Slowing
The nation's progress in getting more people covered by health insurance slowed significantly this year, the government confirmed Wednesday in a report that tempers a historic achievement of the Obama administration. About 1.3 million fewer people were uninsured the first three months of this year, driving the uninsured rate to a record low of 8.6 percent, according to the National Health Interview Survey, an ongoing project of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/7)
Los Angeles Times: The States With The Biggest Obamacare Struggles Spent Years Undermining The Law
As insurers exit Obamacare marketplaces across the country, critics of the Affordable Care Act have redoubled claims that the health law isn’t working. Yet these same critics, many of them Republican politicians in red states, took steps over the last several years to undermine the 2010 law and fuel the current turmoil in their insurance markets. Among other things, they blocked expansion of Medicaid coverage for the poor, erected barriers to enrollment and refused to move health plans into the Obamacare marketplaces, a key step to bringing in healthier consumers. (Levey, 9/7)
The Hill: Officials To Test Tightening ObamaCare Sign-Up Rules
The Obama administration said Tuesday that it is planning to test out further steps to tighten the rules for ObamaCare sign-up periods that have drawn insurer complaints. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said that it will launch a pilot program in 2017 to test ways to put in place a “pre-enrollment verification system,” meaning a way to check documentation to make sure enrollees are actually eligible to sign up for ObamaCare through an extra sign-up period. (Sullivan, 9/6)
Morning Consult: CMS Planning Pilot To Evaluate Abuse Of Special Insurance Sign-Ups
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is expecting to pilot a program meant to clamp down on abuse of special insurance sign-up periods next year. The agency is seeking public comment as it drafts a pilot program to evaluate the pre-enrollment verification program, meaning how it is determined if a person is eligible to sign up at a certain time. Special enrollment periods are times when consumers are able to sign up for health insurance outside of the annual enrollment period, but health insurers say some people can abuse them by signing up for insurance only when they get sick, which can drive up costs for all consumers covered by a plan. (McIntire, 9/6)
And for news out of the states —
Minnesota Public Radio: Dayton Names 2 To MNsure Board
Gov. Mark Dayton has named two replacements on the board of MNsure, the state's health insurance exchange. Retiring DFL state Sen. Kathy Sheran will replace Tom Forsythe as the member with expertise in health policy. Administration policy advisor Lauren Gilchrist will replace Kathryn Duevel as the member with "expertise in public health and disparities." Their terms will expire on May 5, 2020. (Catlin, 9/6)
Pioneer Press: Mark Dayton Appoints Senator, Aide To MNsure Board
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday appointed state Sen. Kathy Sheran and his senior policy adviser Lauren Gilchrist to sit on the MNsure board of directors. Sheran and Gilchrist will serve four-year terms on the board, which runs Minnesota’s state-operated health insurance exchange. The spots on the board had been vacant since May, when board members Tom Forsythe and Kathryn Duevel finished their initial terms. Under Minnesota law, the governor appoints the entire MNsure governing board: six spots directly, and a seventh filled by the governor’s Commissioner of Human Services. (Montgomery, 9/6)
Nashville Tennessean: Organization Gets Grant To Expand Get Covered Tennessee
Family & Children's Service is receiving $1.6 million from federal health officials to expand its statewide efforts to help people in underserved populations buy insurance on the federally run exchange. The Nashville-based organization, which leads Get Covered Tennessee, will receive the money to bolster a campaign to reach a variety of people across the state, including African-American, disabled, Hispanic, immigrant and rural communities. (Fletcher, 9/6)
