Tag: Senate GOP healthcare

Jimmy Kimmel gets heated about health-care bill, says Sen. Bill Cassidy ‘lied right to my face’

The following article by Emily Yahr was posted on the Washington Post website September 20, 2017:

In May, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel delivered an emotional monologue as he revealed that his newborn son, Billy, was born with a heart defect that required immediate surgery. The operation was successful, but Kimmel was deeply shaken by the experience, which happened amid the debate over replacing the Affordable Care Act. Kimmel delivered a passionate plea about the astronomical costs of health care: “No parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child’s life.”

Later that week, while talking about whether insurance companies should be able to cap payouts, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) coined the phrase “the Jimmy Kimmel test,” as in: “Would a child born with congenital heart disease be able to get everything he or she would need in that first year of life?” Cassidy then appeared on Kimmel’s show, and the senator reiterated the importance of making sure middle-class families could afford health care. Continue reading “Jimmy Kimmel gets heated about health-care bill, says Sen. Bill Cassidy ‘lied right to my face’”

Skinny Repeal Bill Would Raise Average Premiums by $1,238 and Increase Uninsured

The following article by Emily Gee and Thomas Huelskoetter was posted on the Center for American Progress website July 25, 2017:

The Capitol is illuminated before sunrise in Washington. (Bloomberg)

Later today, the Senate is scheduled to hold its initial vote on repeal of the Affordable Care Act, although nobody, including the senators themselves, know which bill will be up for a final vote. Reportedly the options for consideration include a previously-unseen “skinny” version of ACA repeal that would only include a repeal of the coverage mandates and the medical device tax. But this skinny repeal bill, if passed, would still have negative effects on health insurance coverage. It would also discourage issuer participation in the individual market and increase the average marketplace premium by $1,238 next year.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that repeal of the individual mandate would result in 15 million fewer Americans having health insurance a decade from now. By 2026, about 15 percent of the nonelderly population, or 43 million Americans, would be uninsured. Continue reading “Skinny Repeal Bill Would Raise Average Premiums by $1,238 and Increase Uninsured”

Parts of Senate GOP Health Care Bill Break Rules, Parliamentarian Says

The following article by Mary Ellen McIntyre was posted on the Roll Call website July 21, 2017:

Abortion, insurance regulations, cost-sharing subsidies would require 60 votes

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., along with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks to reporters about the path forward for health care legislation in the Ohio Clock Corridor after the Senate Republicans’ policy lunch in the Capitol on Tuesday, July 18, 2017. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Several parts of the Senate health care bill would violate the chamber’s budget reconciliation rules, the Senate parliamentarian said in a guidance late Friday.

Provisions related to abortion, certain insurance regulations and funding the law’s cost-sharing subsidies could be struck under the so-called Byrd rule and would require 60 votes to survive.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said the Senate will take a procedural vote to proceed to debate on the health care measure early next week. It’s unclear whether enough Republican senators will vote to start debate or which version of the bill the Senate would consider. The parliamentarian’s ruling is on an early version released last month.

Additionally, a provision that aims to incentivize individuals to purchase coverage and replace the health care law’s individual mandate was ruled out of order with the Byrd rule. Continue reading “Parts of Senate GOP Health Care Bill Break Rules, Parliamentarian Says”

Estimated Premium Increases from Repeal and Delay

The following article by Emily Gee and Thomas Huelskoetter was posted on the Center for American Progress July 18, 2017:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at his office on Thursday, when the Republican health plan was made public. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

After the failure of the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has reverted to the previously-rejected strategy of repealing major parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with no replacement.

McConnell’s revived strategy of repeal and delay would cause immediate chaos in the individual insurance market despite putting off the implementation of certain provisions for two years. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected that this approach would increase premiums in the individual market to levels 20 percent to 25 percent higher relative to those under the ACA in the first year after enactment. By 2026, premiums would be about 100 percent higher than under current law. Continue reading “Estimated Premium Increases from Repeal and Delay”

Trump suggests Republicans will let ACA market collapse, then rewrite health law

The following article by Juliet Eilperin and Sean Sullivan was posted on the Washington Post website July 18, 2017:

The Senate Republicans’ health-care bill was dealt a fatal blow on July 17, when two more senators came out against it. Now President Trump is suggesting to repeal Obamacare, let the insurance market fail and then make “a great healthcare plan.” (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

As divisions between the two main ideological camps within the GOP widened Tuesday, Republicans were scrambling to contain the political fallout from the collapse of a months-long effort to rewrite former President Barack Obama’s signature domestic accomplishment.

President Trump predicted Tuesday that Republicans would wait for the federal insurance market to collapse and then work to broker a deal to rewrite the nation’s landmark health-care law, while Senate leaders pressed ahead with a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act with no immediate replacement. Continue reading “Trump suggests Republicans will let ACA market collapse, then rewrite health law”

If — if — the Senate passes a health bill, get ready for lightning round in the House

The following article by Paul Kane was posted on the Washington Post website July 15, 2017:

By most measures, Republicans face a nearly impossible task of finding enough votes to pass their long-promised repeal of the Affordable Care Act through a Senate that seems irreconcilably divided.

A core group of moderates and mainstream conservatives remains resistant to the Republican proposal that slashes Medicaid funding, while a small but critical bloc of conservatives keeps pushing to move the bill further in their direction.

Yet by one measure, Republicans have never been closer to repealing large chunks of what they dismiss as “Obamacare.” Within two short weeks, the GOP will probably either be reveling in its unexpected victory or mired in deep infighting over the party’s failure to live up to a pledge it has made over the past seven years. Continue reading “If — if — the Senate passes a health bill, get ready for lightning round in the House”

Why health savings accounts are a bust for the poor but a boost for the privileged

The following article by Simon Haeder was posted on the Conversation site July 13, 2017:

Credit:  AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

When Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released his new version of the Republican health care bill July 13, he relied on a favorite Republican device to solve the nation’s health care woes – Health Savings Accounts.

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) were established by the same legislation that created the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit in 2003. HSAsallow individuals to make tax-deductible contributions, withdraw money tax-free to pay for qualified medical expenses and avoid taxes on the money invested in the account. Continue reading “Why health savings accounts are a bust for the poor but a boost for the privileged”

The 5 faulty beliefs that have led to Republican dysfunction on health care

The following article by J.B. Silvers was posted on the Conversation site July 12, 2017:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, shown here in June, 2017, is scheduled to unveil a revised version of the Senate health care bill today. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

As we watch for a new version of a Senate health care bill today, an outside observer might think that Congress is just dysfunctional, lurching from one extreme to another in search of something that works for health care reform.

The latest development has been the inability of Republicans to even agree on their own proposal and, worse yet, what should come next if it fails. Should they repeal the Affordable Care Act and worry about a replacement later or just try to “fix” the ACA now?

But the problem is much deeper than just a policy fix. As a former health insurance CEO and professor of health finance, it seems clear to me that Republicans are making five key implicit assumptions that are inherently problematic: Continue reading “The 5 faulty beliefs that have led to Republican dysfunction on health care”

Coverage Losses by State for the Senate Health Care Repeal Bill

The following article by Emily Gee was posted on the Center for American Progress website June 27, 2017:

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its score of the Senate’s health care repeal plan, showing that the bill would eliminate coverage for 15 million Americans next year and for 22 million by 2026. The CBO projects that the Senate bill would slash Medicaid funding by $772 billion over the next decade; increase individual market premiums by 20 percent next year; and make comprehensive coverage “extremely expensive” in some markets.

The score, released by Congress’ nonpartisan budget agency, comes amid an otherwise secretive process of drafting and dealmaking by Senate Republicans. Unlike the Senate’s consideration of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which involved dozens of public hearings and roundtables plus weeks of debate, Senate Republican leadership released the first public draft of its Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) just days before it hopes to hold a vote.

The Center for American Progress has estimated how many Americans would lose coverage by state and congressional district based on the CBO’s projections. By 2026, on average, about 50,500 fewer people will have coverage in each congressional district. Table 1 provides estimates by state, and a spreadsheet of estimates by state and district can be downloaded at the end of this column. Continue reading “Coverage Losses by State for the Senate Health Care Repeal Bill”

Senate’s Opioid Fund Cannot Substitute for Health Coverage

The following article by Emily Gee and Richard G. Frank was posted on the Center for American Progress website June 20, 2017:

AP/David Dermer — Paul Wright smokes a cigarette, Thursday, June 15, 2017, at the Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic in Youngstown, Ohio.

The concerns of some Senate Republicans about making the opioid epidemic worse have spilled out of their secretive negotiations for repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), in the form of a fund to combat opioid addiction. A $45 billion fund in the Senate bill would reportedly be aimed at helping people with dependence on prescription opioids and illicit forms of the drug, but it would provide scant resources to address the epidemic. The fund also would not be able to undo the true costs of the repeal bill, would result in millions of Americans losing health insurance coverage, and could cause those still insured to lose access to substance use disorder treatment.

There were 2.66 million people in the United States with an opioid use disorder (OUD) as of 2015. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 33,091 people died from an opioid overdose in 2015. West Virginia had the highest opioid overdose death rate; about 36 out of every 100,000 people in the state died from an opioid overdose that year. Continue reading “Senate’s Opioid Fund Cannot Substitute for Health Coverage”