Donald Trump’s gleeful deal with the Democrats—ratcheting up the debt ceiling, as well as the ire of the Republican establishment—puts John Cogan’s mind on 1972. Starting in February of that year, the Democratic presidential candidates engaged in a bidding war over Social Security to gain their party’s nomination. Sen. George McGovern kicked off the political auction with a call for a 20% increase in monthly payments. Sen. Edmund Muskie followed suit, as did Rep. Wilbur Mills, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Former Vice President Hubert Humphrey, never one to be outdone, offered a succulent 25%.
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A recent poll demonstrates the strong bipartisan support for quick action to protect coverage choices and affordability. According to the poll conducted in August, 76% of all registered voters support bipartisan legislation to help make insurance markets more stable, to ensure coverage choices and to keep premiums in check; this includes 78% of Democrats, 73% of independent and 76% of Republicans.
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Lawmakers and policy experts are honing in on a small handful of policies — mostly, different forms of federal funding and regulatory flexibility — as the Senate tries its hand at a bipartisan Affordable Care Act fix.
The first of several Senate HELP Committee hearings on the individual market included topics such as funding the cost-sharing subsidies, and expanding regulatory waivers for states. A handful of other policy ideas, including direct government payments to help offset the costs of expensive patients, were also discussed.
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California and several other states will exempt themselves this year from a new Trump administration rule that cuts in half the amount of time consumers have to buy individual health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
In California, lawmakers are contemplating legislation that would circumvent the rule in future years, too.
The Trump administration’s rule gives people shopping for 2018 coverage on the federal exchange 45 days to sign up, from Nov. 1 through Dec. 15.
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eHealth, Inc. CEO Scott Flanders endorsed the Department of Health and Human Service’s (HHS) decision to reduce and rethink the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA or Obamacare) navigator program, which spent over $62 million to enroll 81,000 people in Obamacare in 2017 ($768 per enrollment).
“Secretary Price has an obligation to the American people to use their money effectively and efficiently, and the navigator program failed on both fronts,” said Scott Flanders, CEO of eHealth, Inc. “The navigator program’s results are discouraging, but HHS’ decision to acknowledge that failure and try something else is a positive step for government.”
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Major healthcare insurer Anthem will only offer Obamacare exchange plans in roughly half of Kentucky’s 120 counties due to mounting policy uncertainty from Washington and a deteriorating market.
Anthem had earlier planned to offer individual market plans in every county in Kentucky. However, the insurer said that lingering problems with the market and massive federal uncertainty has forced its hand.
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Virginia became the latest state at risk of having regions that will lack Affordable Care Act exchange plans next year, after a small insurer announced it will scale back the area where it expects to offer marketplace insurance.
The Virginia area that currently has no 2018 exchange insurer includes 48 counties and parts of six more, as well as 15 cities that are independent of counties, according to a Virginia state regulator. In total, the state has 95 counties and 38 independent cities.
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The Cassidy-Graham bill would repeal the ACA’s tax credits for middle-income Americans, the cost-sharing reduction subsides for low-income Americans, and the Medicaid expansion in 2020. It replaces all those programs with a market-based health care grant program, which would send states a lump sum of money to put toward health care–related purposes. Under Cassidy-Graham, this money could be spent on funding high-risk pools, sending payments to insurers to “stabilize premiums and promote State health insurance market participation, or making payments directly to health care providers, like doctors and hospitals.
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A bipartisan group of senators has palpable momentum but little time to make good on a bid to shore up Obamacare insurance markets, even as conservative Republicans press a parallel attempt to make good on their promise to repeal the health care law.
The stabilization effort, led by Republican Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) and Democrat Patty Murray (Wash.), could yield the first bipartisan Obamacare bill since the law was passed seven years ago. It could also provide some measure of certainty for insurance companies that have until Sept. 27 to make final decisions about whether to participate in Obamacare markets next year.
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The Trump administration and Republican leaders in Congress are pledging to turn their attention toward tax reform after their failure to pass a repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. But Republicans can still improve health care and lower costs if they change the treatment of employer-sponsored health insurance plans in tax reform.
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