A slow health news week wrapped up with a flurry of movement over the Affordable Care Act in the past few days. As we drift into August, there are definitely a few stories to keep an eye on.
Here’s what you might have missed:
The Trump administration issued a final rule on short-term plans. (The highlights: Coverage can go for 12 months and be renewed for a max of 36 months; it doesn’t have to cover essential benefits; and there aren’t preexisting conditions protections.) Officials were surprisingly candid (“We make no representation that it’s equivalent coverage”) in acknowledging the skimpiness of these plans — which were only ever supposed to act as three-month stopgaps for people between jobs.
The New York Times: ‘Short Term’ Health Insurance? Up to 3 Years Under New Trump Policy
For Democrats in the Senate, there’s a silver lining: The move gives them an opportunity to try to force Republicans — just months before midterm elections, mind you — to go on record voting against those popular provisions that short-term plans strip away. There’s no chance such a measure would pass the House (much less be signed by President Donald Trump), but it puts their colleagues across the aisle in a tough spot.
The Associated Press: Dems Will Try Forcing Senate Vote Against Trump Health Plan
The latest attempt to unmoor the ACA is just one in a series of grenades the administration has lobbed at the health law. But premiums aren’t spiking as much this year, insurers are joining the marketplace instead of fleeing it, and public support for Obamacare is skyrocketing. Has the war been already won?
Politico: Trump’s Losing Fight Against Obamacare
And, that wasn’t the only hubbub over the health law this week. Four major cities are suing Trump, saying his multiple attempts to “sabotage” the legislation is a failure of his constitutional duty to enforce the laws of the land. (Spoiler: They’re unlikely to be successful.)
Reuters: Four U.S. Cities Sue Over Trump ‘Sabotage’ of Obamacare
—
Passion over HHS’ decision to separate children at the border continues to boil. The government is now making the argument that the burden of reuniting deported parents with their children should actually fall on the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU fired back saying that the government is the one that made the mess, and officials shouldn’t be able to foist it off now that it needs cleaning up.
Politico: Trump Administration Tells ACLU to Find Deported Parents
—
An eye-popping price tag for a “Medicare-for-all” proposal dominated headlines early this week, but experts are saying there’s more to that $32.6 trillion than it might seem. Essentially, the plan would actually save money in overall national health care spending, but shift it over to the government — which means higher taxes.
Modern Healthcare: Libertarian Think Tank: Providers Would Pay for Medicare for All
—
Rebates are being painted as the new villain in the blame game that is the conversation around lowering high drug prices. Here’s a primer on what they are — but don’t get too attached, they might not be around for long.
The New York Times: Meet the Rebate, the New Villain of High Drug Prices
Bloomberg: Secret Drug Price Rebates Will Go Away, Pfizer CEO Predicts
—
If that’s not enough news for you, my miscellaneous file is chock-full: New VA Secretary Robert Wilkie is planning on reassigning the officials who have been at the heart of the morale crisis plaguing the agency; Medicare could save nearly $3 billion in a single year if it were able to negotiate drug prices as other agencies can; the FDA put the companies that were selling a dangerous class of opioids in charge of monitoring abuse of said opioids — and then did little to intervene over poor prescribing practices; and the drug industry is pumping millions in charity money into those very towns that are suing the companies over their role in the opioid crisis.
Stat: Medicare Could Save $2.8 Billion in a Single Year if Prices Could Be Negotiated
The New York Times: F.D.A. Did Not Intervene to Curb Risky Fentanyl Prescriptions
Bloomberg: Facing Wave of Opioid Lawsuits, Drug Companies Sprinkle Charity on Hard-Hit Areas
—
And as if childbirth wasn’t hard enough, this woman says she had to have a C-section without anesthesia.
Have a great weekend!
This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation.