Bill To Fix Health Law Wouldn’t Offset Coverage Losses If Mandate Is Repealed, CBO Estimates
The Congressional Budget Offices estimates that 4 million Americans would lose insurance coverage in 2019 if Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate as part of its tax legislation. The nonpartisan agency says that passing the Alexander-Murray bill, aimed at stabilizing the health law marketplaces, would not soften that blow. Still, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is pushing for the measure during tax bill discussions.
Bloomberg:
Stabilization Bill Couldn’t Fix The Damage Of Repealing Obamacare’s Mandate
Passing a bipartisan Obamacare stabilization bill wouldn’t do much to cushion the blow from repealing the health law’s requirement that all individuals buy health insurance, the Congressional Budget Office said. The CBO has estimated that scrapping the mandate would result in 4 million people losing health coverage in 2019 and premiums in the individual market to increase by 10 percent. On Wednesday, the nonpartisan Congressional agency said a stabilization proposal backed by some Republican Senators would have no impact on its calculations. (Tracer, 11/29)
The Hill:
Collins Gets Promise To Pass ObamaCare Funding This Year
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Wednesday she has received a commitment from Senate GOP leadership to include ObamaCare funding in a must-pass bill. Collins said she got a promise from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that the deal crafted by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) would be included in legislation this year. (Carney, 11/29)
The Hill:
Freedom Caucus Chair Opposes ObamaCare Funding Pushed By GOP Senator
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Wednesday that he opposes ObamaCare funding known as "reinsurance" that was part of a commitment given to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to help gain her vote for tax reform. "That's a totally different thing because that actually puts more money into a failing system where the money will not actually lower premiums and reduce costs in a substantial way," Meadows told The Hill. "I think that's a bigger problem." (Sullivan, 11/29)
And how is 2018 enrollment going so far? —
Reuters:
Sign-Up Pace Much Slower In Week 4 Of 2018 Obamacare Enrollment
The pace of people signing up for individual insurance under Obamacare slowed significantly during the fourth week of 2018 enrollment, as nearly 37 percent fewer people signed up for the healthcare plans than in the previous week, a U.S. government agency reported on Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that 504,181 people signed up for 2018 Obamacare individual insurance in the 39 states that use the federal government website HealthCare.gov for the week ended Nov. 25, down from 798,829 people in the previous week. New consumer sign-ups fell to 152,243 from 220,323 in the previous week. (11/29)