After White House Yanks ACA Outreach Ads, Officials Worry Young Desirables Won’t Sign Up
As the deadline for open enrollment nears, the Trump Administration pulls $5 million in ads that were geared to boost enrollment.
The Associated Press:
Trump Administration Pulls Back On HealthCare.Gov Ads
The Trump administration says it is pulling back advertising to promote HealthCare.gov as open enrollment draws to a close for this year. The Health and Human Services Department said in a statement Thursday that the government has withdrawn about $5 million in ads as part of an effort to cut costs. The statement said HHS has already spent more than $60 million to promote sign-ups this year under former President Barack Obama's health care law. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 1/27)
Politico:
Trump White House Abruptly Halts Obamacare Ads
The decision sends the clearest signal yet that President Donald Trump is determined to fulfill his campaign pledge to repeal Obamacare. Hours after being sworn in, Trump issued his first executive order allowing federal officials to start unwinding parts of the law. "President Trump is signaling he's the new sheriff," said Rep. Chris Collins, (R-N.Y.), the president's top congressional ally. "He's been elected with a mandate. He's not going to tolerate his employees contradicting and undermining his mandate to get this country going in another direction." (Demko, 1/26)
The Washington Post:
White House Stops Ads, Outreach For Last Days Of 2017 ACA Enrollment
The directive stunned some staffers within the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a source close to the department who was briefed on the action. Staff members protested to Trump appointees at HHS that the sudden ban on outreach would suppress the enrollment of the most desirable customers — younger, healthier people who tend to buy coverage at the last minute — which in turn could raise insurance prices in the future, the source said. (Goldstein, 1/26)
In other national health care news —
Reuters:
Trump Tells Republican Lawmakers: Enough Talk. Time To Deliver
President Donald Trump pushed Republican lawmakers on Thursday for swift action on a sweeping agenda including his planned U.S.-Mexican border wall, tax cuts and repealing the Obamacare law, despite tensions over timetables and priorities. Congressional Republicans were in Philadelphia for a three-day retreat to hammer out a legislative agenda, with the party in control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives for the first time in a decade. (Cowan and Cornwell, 1/26)
The Wall Street Journal:
Pressure Builds To Grant VA Exemptions From Hiring Freeze
The pressure for exemptions to President Donald Trump’s federal hiring freeze grew Thursday, led by Republican congressional leaders. The chairmen of the Senate and House veterans committees sent a letter to the White House asking that the president further clarify which jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs are exempt from the order that Mr. Trump signed just days earlier, which suspended hiring throughout the federal government. (Kesling, 1/26)
Politico:
Anti-Abortion Marchers To Celebrate A New Era Under Trump
Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected in Washington Friday for an anti-abortion march that’s shaping up as a triumphant affair under President Donald Trump — despite his ambitious projection of crowds as large as 600,000. The March for Life, as it’s known, has kicked off on the National Mall every year since 1974 to mark the Jan. 22 anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision establishing abortion rights. (Schor and Nussbaum, 1/27)
The New York Times:
Limiting Antibiotics Curbs Deadly Hospital Infections
Hospitals try to control Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that can cause deadly infections, by careful cleaning and meticulous washing of the hands. But limiting the use of antibiotics may be even more effective, a British study suggests. (Bakalar, 1/25)