Viewpoints: Using The Health Law To Pay For Tax Reform; HHS Secretary’s Challenge: Defining Affordability

The New York Times: This Tax Bill Is Now A Health Care Bill
Republican leaders in the Senate somehow needed to find an extra few hundred billion dollars. They needed to find that money because they want to cut taxes on the wealthy — and cut them deeply. By the time the Senate leaders had finished coming up with all of their top-end tax cuts last week, their bill was projected to cost more than the House had previously committed to spending. (David Leonhardt, 11/15)

The New York Times: Obamacare’s Insurance Mandate Is Unpopular. So Why Not Just Get Rid of It?
In a bill with many unloved parts, the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate has long been the most loathed. For years, critics of the bill have said the law’s requirement that Americans either obtain insurance or pay a fine was coercive and unfair. The mandate brought about a Supreme Court case that nearly toppled the whole Affordable Care Act. Public opinion polls consistently show that ordinary Americans dislike it. ... But there’s a reason that Obamacare’s authors kept a provision so unpleasant and unpopular. And there’s a reason the budget office said that cutting it would save so much money. (Margot Sanger-Katz, 11/14)

Stat: Dear Alex Azar: The Next HHS Secretary Must Redefine ‘Affordable’ Health Care
Affordability matters. If insurance were more affordable, much of the debate about the future of health care would be moot. Conservatives’ concerns about the increasing cost of entitlement programs, or about the onerous nature of ACA mandates, would largely disappear as more Americans would simply purchase affordable insurance on their own. This should be of great concern to former pharmaceutical executive Alex Azar, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. (Arthur “Tim” Garson, Jr., 11/14)

The Des Moines Register: Work For Medicaid? Health Care Ensures People Are Well Enough To Get A Job
President Lyndon B. Johnson may have rolled over in his grave when Seema Verma quoted him last week. The administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was outlining her philosophy on Medicaid in a speech to state health care officials. She announced states will, for the first time, be allowed to impose work requirements on low-income Americans who rely on the government health insurance. Verma is catering to a handful of Republican governors who want to require employment or participation in job programs to qualify for coverage. (11/14)

Columbus Dispatch: Restore Federal Funding For Children’s Health Care
Nearly a quarter of a million Ohio children are at risk of losing their health-care coverage this holiday season — that is, unless Congress acts. For the past 20 years, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has provided health care coverage to millions of uninsured children. In Ohio, the state’s CHIP program, commonly known as Healthy Start, provides coverage to an estimated 223,583 children. Yet, in a move that has all the makings of a modern-day Ebenezer Scrooge, the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress recently failed to reauthorize funding for CHIP, allowing funding for the program to lapse at the end of September. More than a month later, Congress still has not restored funding. (Kay Wilson, 11/14)

Kansas City Star: Rep. Jenkins, Don’t Let Congress Make Kansas’ Tax Mistake
This week, Congress — including Kansas Rep. Lynn Jenkins — is considering tax legislation with far reaching consequences. According to analysis from the nonpartisan Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, many middle-class families will see tax increases, while the wealthiest 1 percent get an average tax cut of more than $64,000 by 2027. But what’s most striking is how much this plan resembles Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s disastrous 2012 tax experiment. Like that plan, the current congressional proposal slashes the income tax rate for the wealthy and cuts the top rate for “pass-through” income earned by wealthy individuals, including President Donald Trump. We all know what happened here at home: We plunged into a statewide budget crisis and saw deep funding cuts for education, health care, infrastructure and environmental protection. (Sarah LaFrenz, 11/14)

Stat: I’ve Unconsciously Contributed To The Racial Gap In Infant Mortality. Not Anymore
I have spent 45 minutes during morning rounds chatting with mothers who visit their babies early every morning and stay all day. Then there are parents who miss my daily rounds because parking downtown is expensive and they must park during off hours to get a discount who I don’t take the time to call every day. Since I have recognized this unintentional but nonetheless deplorable behavior in myself, I am making an effort to adjust my actions so my biases don’t affect the babies under my care and their parents. (Nana Matoba, 11/14)