Trump Tried to Drive Obamacare Premiums Up. They Went Down. President Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images “Obamacare is finished, it’s dead, it’s gone,” gloated President Trump last year, “There is no such thing as Obamacare anymore … It’s a concept that couldn’t have worked.” Trump was highlighting the anticipated effect of his many moves to undermine the hated law that he had failed to repeal. He had withheld payments to insurers that they were owed under the law, allowed healthy customers to be skimmed out of the customer pool with cheap plans that would raise rates for others, virtually eliminated the outreach budget to enroll customers in the exchanges, and would later repeal the individual mandate. All these steps were intended to destroy the economic basis for making its individual market exchanges work. They failed. Yesterday, the department of Health and Human Services revealed that premiums on the exchanges for 2019 policies are actually dropping.
In Montana, a Tough Negotiator Proved Employers Don’t… This story was co-published with NPR. Marilyn Bartlett took a deep breath, drew herself up to her full 5 feet and a smidge, and told the handful of Montana officials that she had a radical strategy to bail out the state’s foundering benefit plan for its 30,000 employees and their families. The officials were listening. Their health plan was going broke, with losses that could top $50 million in just a few years. It needed a savior, but none of the applicants to be its new administrator had wowed them.
Now here was a self-described pushy 64-year-old grandmother interviewing for the job. Bartlett came with some unique qualifications. Most importantly, Bartlett understood something the state officials didn’t: the side deals, kickbacks and lucrative clauses that industry players secretly build into medical costs. Now, in the twilight of her career, Bartlett wanted to switch teams. And so Bartlett pitched a bold strategy. Bartlett knew employers have negotiating power that few of them use. St. In Montana, a Tough Negotiator Proved Employers Don’t… Ruling on Health Care Subsidies Could Prove Costly for Government. WASHINGTON — A federal court ruled this month that a Montana insurer is entitled to federal compensation for subsidy payments under the Affordable Care Act that President Trump abruptly ended last October, a ruling that could reverberate through insurance markets and cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars. At issue are payments for so-called cost-sharing reductions, discounts that enhance the value of health insurance policies purchased from the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces by reducing deductibles, co-payments and other out-of-pocket costs for low-income consumers.
President Trump ended the payments in October, one of a series of executive actions intended to undo President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement. But Judge Elaine D. Kaplan of the United States Court of Federal Claims said this month that Mr. Trump’s actions violated a government promise to insurance companies participating in the health law. Federal officials defended Mr. Stephen J. S Use of Your Data. Why Desperate Families Are Getting Religion on Health Coverage.
When Erica Jackson and her husband decided she would quit her job as a nurse and stay at home with their three kids, they knew they couldn’t afford insurance on the individual market. The family of five, who live in Wichita Falls, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, could already barely afford Jackson’s employer coverage, which cost $900 per month for a plan with a $12,000 deductible. So Jackson reached out to her insurance broker for alternatives to exchange plans, and he suggested that she and her family would be a good fit for Medi-Share, a nonprofit insurance alternative based in Florida in which members share each other’s health care costs.
There was a catch, though. The plan was run by a nonprofit religious ministry. Story Continued Below Because of her experience working in a doctor’s office, Jackson was initially skeptical of the faith-based plans—they aren’t really insurance, and there’s no guarantee they’ll cover medical bills. “I was freaking out for no reason,” said Jackson. Trump’s pick to lower drug prices is a former pharma executive who raised them. By Carolyn Y. Johnson By Carolyn Y. Johnson Wonkblog Analysis Analysis Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events November 13 at 3:30 PM Alex Azar meets reporters in 2006, when he served as deputy secretary of Health and Human Services. President Trump's pick for health secretary previously served as a high-ranking executive at a pharmaceutical company that repeatedly raised the prices of its drugs, doubling the U.S. list price of its top-selling insulin over the five years he served as a company president.
Trump endorsed Alex Azar, a previous deputy secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Supporters said that Azar's understanding of the complicated dynamics behind pharmaceuticals pricing would give him an advantage in figuring out how to make drugs more affordable. Business wonkblog false after3th true “Mr. Read More: Diabetes patients sue insulin makers for ‘pricing fraud’
How Trump Is Undermining Obamacare and What It Means for Consumers. Schumer: Bipartisan health care bill 'has a majority' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that the Alexander-Murray bipartisan health care bill has support from a majority of senators, and he urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring it to the floor "immediately. " “This is a good compromise. It took months to work out. It has a majority. It has 60 senators supporting it. Story Continued Below Sens.
Schumer said that President Donald Trump originally urged lawmakers to come up with a bipartisan health care fix, but said the president's hesitancy to support the bipartisan bill comes after the "right wing" attacked it. "The Republicans are in charge, and they should be coming up with a solution and Senator Alexander, their leader on health care did," Schumer said. "We can get together in a bipartisan way, the president urged it originally. McConnell said on Sunday during an interview with CNN's "State of the Union" that he would only bring the bill to the floor if Trump would sign it. Letter to Senate Leaders on Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson Proposal - AHIP.
Insurers Come Out Swinging Against New Republican Health Care Bill - NYTimes.com. All 50 States Just Took An Unprecedented Step Against Senate's Trumpcare Bill. Share this story 0 Shares A tweet from Andy Slavitt, President Obama’s former Medicaid chief, is sending shockwaves through social media. The former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services just tweeted out that the bipartisan Medicaid Directors from all fifty U.S. states have issued a joint negative statement about the Graham-Cassidy Obamacare repeal bill. In the letter, the fifty Medicaid Directors did not hold back their criticism of proposed legislation, which Republicans are strong-arming to a vote late next week: The Board of Directors of the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) urges Congress to carefully consider the significant challenges posed by the Graham-Cassidy legislation.
State Medicaid Directors are strong proponents of state innovation in the drive towards health care system transformation. You could, for example, build on Obamacare toward an even more inclusive healthcare system. Lucia Brawley. Bill Cassidy offers misleading defense in face-off with Jimmy Kimmel. Following a sharp rebuke by late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., hit the airwaves on Sept. 20 to defend his bill that would undo much of the Affordable Care Act. The bill, which Cassidy proposed with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was approaching Senate floor consideration when Kimmel took aim at the bill’s impact on some Americans’ ability to secure health insurance. Under the Graham-Cassidy bill, Cassidy said, "More people will have coverage, and we protect those with pre-existing conditions. (In) states like Maine, Virginia, Florida, Missouri, there will be billions more dollars to provide health insurance coverage for those in those states who have been passed by by Obamacare.
" We decided to take a closer look at the way Cassidy described the potential impact of his bill. How would Graham-Cassidy affect the states? The bill would establish a new "block grant" program for states, taking the place of funding currently provided under the Affordable Care Act. Entire health care industry fights to kill Republican repeal bill. There was a line in a Politico article yesterday that I read twice, because it was such a striking detail about the state of the health care fight: “To date, not one major health care industry or advocacy group has expressed support for the Graham-Cassidy plan.”
That’s not an exaggeration and it’s no small development. Next week, the Senate is poised to vote on overhauling the American health care system, and at this point, the bill’s Republican supporters have managed to persuade no one but themselves. Medical professionals hate the Graham-Cassidy plan, as do hospital administrators and every major patient-advocacy organization in the country. To a very real extent, GOP lawmakers are going up against literally everyone who has a stake in the American health care industry. And that includes insurance companies. As the New York Times’ report added, private insurers have been “reluctant to speak out” against Republican plans, but they now believe they don’t have much of a choice.
GOP senators are rushing to pass Graham-Cassidy. We asked 9 to explain what it does. Republican senators are struggling to articulate why they are rushing to pass their last-ditch effort to repeal and replace Obamacare over the next 10 days before running into their September 30 deadline. In interviews with Vox on Tuesday, nine Republican senators primarily argued that their “Hail Mary” bill — spearheaded by Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC) and Bill Cassidy (LA) — would return federal power to the states, giving them greater flexibility to improve their health systems locally. “The heart of the legislation takes the policymaking role of Washington and sends it to the states,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said. Far less clear is exactly how Graham-Cassidy would pull off this feat without resulting in millions of Americans losing their insurance — and the number of millions is still unknown, since any vote would likely have to come before the Congressional Budget Office completes its analysis of the bill.
“They can do it with less money,” said Sen. Sen. Jeff Stein Pat Roberts What readers? Republicans Peddle Nonsense to Sell Health-Care Plan - Bloomberg. Congressional Republicans are rushing to overhaul the U.S. health-care system by passing a bill that is based on dishonest claims, avoids the usual professional analysis, and makes a mockery of serious legislative process.
QuickTake Obamacare The Senate is scheduled to vote next week on a proposal by Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana to repeal and replace much of the Affordable Care Act passed by a Democratic Congress in 2009. Earlier Republican efforts failed, but this time, using more than a little sleight of hand, party leaders and the White House think they may pull it off. The plan is to approve the legislation with only Republican votes in the Senate, with limited debate and before the Congressional Budget Office has time to analyze the costs and impact, then to rush the same bill through the House and send it to President Donald Trump. There have been no hearings on the bill despite its massive impact on the U.S. economy and health-care system. What's in the new GOP health care bill, in one (simple) chart. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks about the Republicans’ new health care bill on Capitol Hill on Sept. 13, 2017.
Photo by REUTERS/Yuri Gripas The heart monitor on the Republican health care reform effort is suddenly beeping again, thanks to four GOP senators who released a 140-page bill that’s keeping conservative hope for overhauling the Affordable Care Act alive. How does this latest bill — backed by Republicans Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Dean Heller of Nevada and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin — compare with the two major GOP efforts that failed earlier this year? (That would be the House-passed “American Health Care Act” and Senate Republican leaders’ “Better Care Reconciliation Act”). They all effectively wipe out Obamacare’s mandates to buy insurance, give more power to states and dramatically alter Medicaid, the health care program for the poor.
This chart breaks down the differences. What's in the new GOP health care bill, in one (simple) chart. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks about the Republicans’ new health care bill on Capitol Hill on Sept. 13, 2017. Photo by REUTERS/Yuri Gripas The heart monitor on the Republican health care reform effort is suddenly beeping again, thanks to four GOP senators who released a 140-page bill that’s keeping conservative hope for overhauling the Affordable Care Act alive. How does this latest bill — backed by Republicans Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Dean Heller of Nevada and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin — compare with the two major GOP efforts that failed earlier this year? (That would be the House-passed “American Health Care Act” and Senate Republican leaders’ “Better Care Reconciliation Act”).
They all effectively wipe out Obamacare’s mandates to buy insurance, give more power to states and dramatically alter Medicaid, the health care program for the poor. This chart breaks down the differences. Graham-Cassidy Health Care Bill: What you need to know. One GOP senator refuses to support the bill Sen. Rand Paul has repeatedly said he will not vote in favor of the bill, tweeting “Graham/Cassidy keeps Obamacare and tells the states to run it.
No thanks.” If two more senators vote no the bill is dead Republicans need 50 votes to pass and the bill and can’t afford to lose any more senators’ support. The Graham-Cassidy Obamacare Repeal Bill Still Covers Fewer People - The Atlantic. There’s a new sheriff in town in the debate over repealing Obamacare, and it might be the most dramatic proposal yet. The Graham-Cassidy proposal, sponsored by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, has long percolated on the Hill as a compromise alternative to the doomed efforts of previous bills to replace Obamacare. With the window for passage of any such law waning—in order to pass by simple majority via reconciliation, the legislation has to pass by September 30—on Wednesday, the senators finally released a draft of the bill.
But that draft is much less of a compromise than reputation suggests—and would probably reshape the American health-care system in some of the same ways as previous efforts. It turns out, though, that the draft version of Graham-Cassidy only does one of those things. Those grants, however, wouldn’t cover the same number of people. For starters, the total allocated money would be less than what’s spent on those programs today. An Angry Jimmy Kimmel Embraces the Politics of Health Care - The Atlantic. Report: Higher premiums if Trump halts ‘Obamacare’ subsidies. What's in the Senate's secret Obamacare repeal bill. Senate Dems target potential GOP candidates over ObamaCare repeal. Fight Against Wealthcare. Obamacare exploding? Maybe just a slow burn. The Republican Party Is Catastrophically Broken. The Health-Care Debacle Was a Failure of Conservatism. Behind closed doors, Republican lawmakers fret about how to repeal Obamacare.
Fact-checking the White House’s rhetoric on the CBO report. Americanhealthcareact_1. Congressional Budget Office: 52 Million Left Uncovered - The Atlantic. Trump's moves to make good on campaign vows upset supporters. Republicans' health care plan has already run out of friends. Rep. Joe Kennedy III slams Paul Ryan on ACA repeal—then forces GOP lawyer to admit major exclusion. AmericanHealthCareAct. Uk.businessinsider. 4 Republican Senators Just Rebelled Against the House Plan to Repeal Obamacare. Medscape Access. Republican split on Obamacare strategy evident during private meeting. Medscape Access. Obama Wrote the Most Popular Scientific Journal Article of 2016.
Hospitals: GOP may create 'an unprecedented public health crisis'