‘There Are No Hands On The Wheel’: Insurers Heap Blame On Administration For Next Year’s Rate Hikes
The finger-pointing toward the Trump administration undermines GOP arguments that the marketplaces are collapsing under their own weight. Meanwhile, Republicans are seizing on the increases to drum up support for their repeal-and-replace push.
Los Angeles Times:
Health Insurers Plan Big Obamacare Rate Hikes — And They Blame Trump
Health insurers across the country are making plans to dramatically raise Obamacare premiums or exit marketplaces amid growing exasperation with the Trump administration’s erratic management, inconsistent guidance and seeming lack of understanding of basic healthcare issues. At the same time, state insurance regulators — both Democrat and Republican — have increasingly concluded they cannot count on the Trump administration to help them ensure that consumers will have access to a health plan next year. (Levey, 5/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Republicans Lock Onto Insurance Troubles In Push To Topple Health Law
Republicans are seizing on early signs of premium increases and diminishing insurer participation on next year’s insurance exchanges as proof the Affordable Care Act is floundering and must be overturned, pitting them against Democrats who say the GOP repeal effort itself is to blame. The finger-pointing is taking on new urgency as Republican lawmakers cite the ACA’s problems to drum up support for their legislation to topple the law, often called Obamacare. A bill passed the House earlier this month, and the Senate is now trying to craft its own version. (Armour, Wilde Mathews and Radnofsky, 5/18)
In other national health care news —
Bloomberg:
House May Need To Vote Again On GOP Obamacare Repeal Bill
House Republicans barely managed to pass their Obamacare repeal bill earlier this month, and they now face the possibility of having to vote again on their controversial health measure. House Speaker Paul Ryan hasn’t yet sent the bill to the Senate because there’s a chance that parts of it may need to be redone, depending on how the Congressional Budget Office estimates its effects. House leaders want to make sure the bill conforms with Senate rules for reconciliation, a mechanism that allows Senate Republicans to pass the bill with a simple majority. (House, 5/18)
Morning Consult:
Hatch Says He’s Open to Keeping Obamacare’s Individual Mandate
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on Wednesday said he wouldn’t be opposed to delaying the repeal of the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, making him one of the most senior Republicans to float the idea. (McIntire, 5/17)
The Hill:
Abortion Poses Hurdle For Senate Healthcare Bill
Abortion has emerged as a potential stumbling block for Senate Republicans as they seek to craft an ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill that can garner 51 votes. Senators are fretting that a provision in the House healthcare bill that bars financial assistance from being used to buy plans covering abortion will be stripped out under the Senate’s rules of reconciliation. Republicans hope to use that special budgetary procedure to bypass a Democratic filibuster. (Roubein, 5/19)
CQ HealthBeat:
GOP Senators Discuss Health Tax Credits Ahead Of CBO Score
Senate Republicans on Thursday wrestled with questions of how to factor in consumers’ ages and income in devising a new set of federal subsidies for medical insurance, which would replace those created by Democrats’ 2010 health care law. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, underscoring just how preliminary the meetings have been, suggested the Senate might split its massive rewrite of the health care law into two parts, the first of which would focus on stabilizing the market in 2018 and 2019. A scaled-back bill would be far easier to get through the Senate and perhaps could attract bipartisan support, but would represent a retrenchment in Republicans’ efforts to overhaul President Barack Obama’s health care law. (Young and Mershon, 5/18)
The Washington Post Fact Checker:
Nancy Pelosi’s Claim That ‘Seven Million Veterans Will Lose Their Tax Credit’ Under The GOP Health Bill
While listing a series of criticisms of the House Republican bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, Pelosi described it as “Robin Hood in reverse” that hurts those in need, such as veterans. In its earlier iteration, the American Health Care Act (AHCA) contained a provision protecting tax credits for veterans, regardless of whether or not they were enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs health-care system. The version of the bill that was passed in May omitted this provision, meaning some veterans may no longer have access to subsidized private insurance. But Pelosi glossed over the nuances of this issue in her claim, so we dug into it. (Lee, 5/18)