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After cutting funds for nonprofit groups that help people obtain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration is encouraging the use of insurance agents and brokers who are often paid by insurers when they help people sign up. The administration said in a recent bulletin that it was “increasing partnerships” with insurance agents and viewed them as “important stakeholders” in the federal marketplace, where consumers are now shopping for insurance. But some health policy experts warned that a shift from nonprofit groups, which are supposed to provide impartial information, to brokers and agents, who may receive commissions for the plans they recommend, carries risks for consumers. (Pear, 11/11)

Kaiser Health News: Brokers Are Reluctant Players In A Most Challenging ACA Open-Enrollment Season

Lee Nathans, like insurance brokers in many states, expects to be crazy busy for the next several weeks, fielding calls from “people who are not going to be happy.” Open enrollment for Affordable Care Act coverage started Nov. 1, and the approximately 10 million people who buy their own health insurance are only now getting a look at what’s being offered. It’s daunting. “There will be a lot of people who will need to use a broker,” said Nathans, of Columbus, Ohio. (Appleby, 11/13)

Insurer competition in the ObamaCare marketplaces is declining, but three-quarters of enrollees still have a choice of two or more insurers, according to a new analysis. The analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that the average number of insurers per state declined to 3.5 for 2018, down from 4.3 this year and 5.6 the year before. (Sullivan, 11/10)

ObamaCare is emerging as a top issue for Democrats as they seek to gain control of Congress in next year's midterm elections. Just a year after worries about ObamaCare premiums were seen as a contributing factor in Hillary Clinton's loss, voter concerns about GOP attacks on the health-care law seem to be bolstering Democratic candidates. (Sullivan, 11/10)

Five states are asking a federal judge to halt the implementation of the Trump administration's recent rollback of ObamaCare's birth-control mandate. The attorneys general in California, New York, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia filed the motion for a preliminary injunction Thursday night with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. (Hellmann, 11/10)