Trump Administration Tries To Calm Skittish Insurers With Stricter Health Law Rules
But advocates say the changes — including tighter open enrollment periods — may hurt consumers.
The Associated Press:
Trump Administration Ushers In Changes To Obama Health Law
The Trump administration took steps Wednesday intended to calm jittery insurance companies and make tax compliance with former President Barack Obama's health law less burdensome for some people. But the changes could lead to policies with higher annual deductibles, according to the administration's own proposal. That seems to undercut President Donald Trump's assurance in a recent Washington Post interview that his plan would mean "lower numbers, much lower deductibles." (2/15)
Los Angeles Times:
While Congress Struggles To Replace Obamacare, The Trump Administration Is Moving To Reshape Health Insurance On Its Own
Administration officials said the moves — which were detailed in proposed regulations released Wednesday — are necessary to stabilize Obamacare marketplaces that have been shaken over the last year by rising premiums and insurer exits. (Levey, 2/15)
In other national health care news —
The Associated Press:
Following Trump Order, IRS Shifts On Health Care Mandate
The IRS says it's following President Donald Trump's executive order on health care by easing enforcement of the unpopular Obama-era requirement for people to have coverage or risk fines. Trump directed federal agencies to ease the health law's rules after he took office. (2/15)
The Washington Post:
Freedom Caucus Backs ACA ‘Repeal And Replace’ That Counts On Private Health Care
House conservatives, frustrated by GOP leadership’s slow and tentative approach to replacing the Affordable Care Act, have gotten behind legislation by Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that would repeal most of the law and move millions of Americans Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). “We were tired of waiting,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) at a Wednesday press conference on the legislation, “and that’s why we said: Let’s go. Let’s go now.” (Weigel, 2/15)
The Associated Press:
House GOP Batting Around Options For Revamping Health Law
House GOP leaders are offering rank-and-file lawmakers options for replacing President Barack Obama's health care law. Lawmakers, aides and lobbyists say the proposals take a conservative approach dominated by tax breaks and a transition away from today's Medicaid program. House Speaker Paul Ryan and other House leaders planned to discuss details of their plans with lawmakers Thursday and gauge their receptiveness. (Fram, 2/16)
The Wall Street Journal:
Small Businesses Change Tune On Health-Insurance Coverage
When Congress enacted the Affordable Care Act in 2010, some small firms worried that the cost of covering their workers would drive them out of business. But many of them now say they plan to keep offering health-insurance coverage, even if the requirement that they do so is eliminated. Some entrepreneurs have changed their tune after realizing that the benefit helps them attract and retain workers in a tight labor market, while others say that complying with the requirement to offer health insurance coverage to certain employees hasn’t been the financial strain they feared—in part because fewer workers than expected signed up. (Simon, 2/15)
Politico:
A Bleak Week For Obamacare
Obamacare’s health insurance markets are flirting with financial disaster — and that’s before Republicans have had a chance to lay their hands on the law they’ve vowed for seven years to repeal. (Demko, 2/15)
The Wall Street Journal:
Humana’s Decision To Pull Out Of Health Exchanges Pressures Republicans
Humana Inc.’s decision to withdraw from the Affordable Care Act exchanges next year adds to the pressure on Republicans to bolster the marketplaces even as they promise to unwind the health law. ... Republicans may find themselves in a tough position politically if insurer withdrawals or sharp rate markups affect marketplace consumers in 2018, when federal health policy will have been under their control for about a year. ... Insurers have been ratcheting up the pressure on Republicans to prop up the marketplaces, with increasingly public threats about the consequences if they don’t see such efforts. Insurers must begin filing rates for their 2018 exchange plans with state regulators this spring. (Wilde Mathews and Armour, 2/15)
Reuters:
U.S. Healthcare Costs To Escalate Over Next Decade: Government Agency
The cost of medical care in the United States is expected to grow at a faster clip over the next decade and overall health spending growth will outpace that of the gross domestic product, a U.S. government health agency said on Wednesday. A report by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cited the aging of the enormous baby boom generation and overall economic inflation as prime contributors to the projected increase in healthcare spending. (Abutaleb, 2/15)
The Associated Press:
Trump Nominee Has Decried Medicaid For Fostering Dependency
The businesswoman President Donald Trump selected to oversee Medicaid, the health care program for 74 million low-income Americans, has said the program is structurally flawed by policies that burden states and foster dependency among the poor. ... Her proposed solutions can be seen most dramatically in Indiana, where Medicaid enrollees pay fees and a missed payment means a six-month lockout from the program. ... Democrats in Washington are concerned Verma's methods may become a favored model as Republicans work to repeal the Affordable Care Act, making it harder for non-disabled adults to get access to health care. (Johnson, 2/16)
Bloomberg:
Dementia Joins Ranks Of Top Global Killers With No Drug In Sight
Dementia has unseated AIDS as one of the world’s top killers, new figures from the World Health Organization show, as drugmakers struggle to either curb or cure it. Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia killed 1.54 million people in 2015, more than twice the number of deaths from the disease in 2000, according to documents posted on the WHO website last month. It replaced HIV/AIDS as No. 7 on the global health watchdog’s list of the 10 biggest causes of death worldwide. New therapies helped push fatalities from HIV/AIDS from 1.5 million down to 1.1 million over the same 15-year period. (Kresge, 2/15)
The Washington Post:
Trump’s Claim That There’s ‘Tremendous Amount Of Increase’ In Autism Cases
In a meeting with educators, Trump asked the principal of a center that serves students with disabilities about the prevalence of autism. The principal, Jane Quenneville, spoke about the increasing number of students with autism at the Kilmer Center, a Fairfax County public school. But Trump then claimed that there was a “tremendous amount of increase” in autism in general — “really a horrible thing to watch.” This exchange is especially noteworthy, because Trump wants to create a vaccine safety commission that could roll back vaccine laws based on the widely discredited theory that vaccines cause autism. (Lee, 2/16)