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If certain parts of the House Republican health care bill become law, states that opt out of Obamacare protections could see an explosion of “junk insurance” in their individual markets – which could leave millions of people with very little coverage. Such plans often can be dirt-cheap, but they offer so few benefits that the recent Congressional Budget Office score on the Republicans’ American Health Care Act said such coverage basically amounted to no coverage at all. (Pugh, 5/30)

Back when insurance companies could still deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, 35 states, including Missouri, had a public plan to subsidize people who couldn’t buy coverage anywhere else: the high-risk pool. Often expensive and underfunded, the programs were phased out by the Affordable Care Act, which forbids insurance companies from denying coverage or charging higher premiums to individuals based on their health status. The Republican’s plan to repeal major parts of the ACA chips away at these rules. (Bouscaren, 5/31)

As the Senate works to craft its own version of the House GOP’s American Health Care Act and polls show increasing skepticism about the Republicans’ plan, some Democrats continue to highlight the pain they say the legislation would cause rural Americans, including more than half a million Pennsylvanians living on Medicaid. Nearly 1 of out of every 5 rural Pennsylvanians uses Medicaid following the program’s expansion under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. (Maake, 5/30)

Nearly 60 percent of the population – or 190 million Americans – suffer from one or more chronic diseases, and they are creating a major drain on the U.S. healthcare system, according to new research. If current trends continue unabated, the cost of treating people with multiple chronic problems will total more than a staggering $42 trillion between now and 2030. (Pianin, 5/30)