After Navigators’ Budget Slashed, Consumers Being Directed To Get Help From Private Brokers
But advocates worry that shifting from a nonprofit model to one where the agent stands to make a commission will ultimately hurt consumers.
The New York Times:
Trump Administration Guiding Health Shoppers To Agents Paid By Insurers
After cutting funds for nonprofit groups that help people obtain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration is encouraging the use of insurance agents and brokers who are often paid by insurers when they help people sign up. The administration said in a recent bulletin that it was “increasing partnerships” with insurance agents and viewed them as “important stakeholders” in the federal marketplace, where consumers are now shopping for insurance. But some health policy experts warned that a shift from nonprofit groups, which are supposed to provide impartial information, to brokers and agents, who may receive commissions for the plans they recommend, carries risks for consumers. (Pear, 11/11)
In other national health care news —
The New York Times:
Trump Health Agency Challenges Consensus On Reducing Costs
For several decades, a consensus has grown that reining in the United States’ $3.2 trillion annual medical bill begins with changing the way doctors are paid: Instead of compensating them for every appointment, service and procedure, they should be paid based on the quality of their care. The Obama administration used the authority of the Affordable Care Act to aggressively advance this idea, but many doctors chafed at the scope and speed of its experiments to change the way Medicare pays for everything from primary care to cancer treatment. Now, the Trump administration is siding with doctors — making a series of regulatory changes that slow or shrink some of these initiatives and let many doctors delay adopting the new system. (Goodnough and Zernike, 11/12)
The Associated Press Fact Check:
Trump Hails 'New' VA As Old Problems Persist
President Donald Trump speaks with pride about the progress of his overhaul of health care for veterans, declaring that the Department of Veterans Affairs already "is a whole new place." Old problems persist, though, and some of his steps are not as advanced as he advertises. For Veterans Day, the White House came out with a two-page statement to support the contention that "tremendous progress has been made in a short period of time." (Yen, 11/10)
Politico:
Price Investigation Continues To Roil HHS
Tom Price left his job as Health and Human Services secretary in September, but the investigation into his use of private jets for official travel now threatens to enmesh others in the department. The department’s inspector-general’s probe will review who approved — or should have been approving — Price’s use of private jets on at least 26 trips from May to September, some of them quick jaunts on routes heavily traveled by commercial aircraft, according to three people with knowledge of the probe. (Pradhan and Diamond, 11/13)