Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Deep-Pocketed Health Industry Lobbies Ready To Throw Weight Behind Dems Who Don't Back 'Medicare For All'
The united front that helped Democrats save Obamacare just a year ago is falling apart over single-payer health care. Deep-pocketed hospital, insurance and other lobbies are plotting to crush progressives鈥 hopes of expanding the government's role in health care once they take control of the House. The private-sector interests, backed in some cases by key Obama administration and Hillary Clinton campaign alumni, are now focused on beating back another prospective health care overhaul, including plans that would allow people under 65 to buy into Medicare. (Cancryn, 12/10)
Four incoming House Democratic chairmen on Friday pressed the Trump administration for answers about its decision to call for overturning ObamaCare鈥檚 pre-existing condition protections in court. 鈥淚n declining to defend these provisions, the Trump Administration is seeking to invalidate these critical patient protections, and once again subject millions of Americans with preexisting conditions to the discrimination they faced before the ACA,鈥 the Democrats wrote in a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma. (Sullivan, 12/7)
Democrats are building a new power base that will play an elevated role in a divided government in Washington: state attorneys general contesting President Trump鈥檚 agenda in the courts. Democrats defeated Republican incumbents in four states last month, giving the party a 27-23 edge among states鈥 top law-enforcement officials, a shift that will beef up its legal fights against the president. Democrats plan to build upon dozens of existing lawsuits fighting Mr. Trump鈥檚 attempt to undercut the Affordable Care Act, roll back environmental regulations and install hard-line immigration policies. (Thomas, 12/10)
And in other health law news聽鈥
The Trump administration may start using approval of 1332 waivers as a means to spur states to unwind healthcare regulations, including certificate-of-need laws. Technically, the federal government can't force states to overhaul CON laws, but it has both a powerful bully pulpit and leverage to spur repeals, specifically through its final sign-off on 1332 state innovation waivers that state governments are increasingly depending on to shore up their health exchange markets. These waivers are used to funnel federal money into reinsurance pools and other measures. (Luthi, 12/10)
Kaiser Health News: Need Health Insurance? The Deadline Is Dec. 15
The annual open-enrollment period for people who buy their own insurance on the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 marketplaces ends Dec. 15 in most states. Enrollment in states that use the federal healthcare.gov platform has been sluggish this year compared to last. From Nov. 1 through Dec. 1, about 3.2 million people had chosen plans for 2019. Compared with the previous year, that鈥檚 about 400,000 fewer, or a drop of just over 11 percent. The wider availability of short-term plans is one big change that has set this year鈥檚 apart from past sign-up periods. (Andrews, 12/10)
As the state health exchange enters the final week of this year鈥檚 open enrollment, Marylanders appear more interested in buying health insurance than many other Americans. The number of people buying private policies through the state鈥檚 online marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act is up a bit, while enrollment on the federal exchange that serves 39 states is down 11 percent. (Cohn, 12/10)
