Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Disagreement Over Preexisting Conditions Reveals Deep Intra-Party Divide Over Health Law
Senate Republicans are showing early divisions over what to do about ObamaCare's protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Some conservatives, including Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), want to simply repeal those provisions and other ObamaCare regulations and leave them up to the states. But advocates of a more centrist approach, like Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), are speaking out in favor of pre-existing condition protections and endorsing a "Jimmy Kimmel test" for the bill, where no one can be denied coverage. 聽(Sullivan, 5/23)
Republican senators working to craft their own bill to replace the Affordable Care Act are looking at possibly phasing out the requirement that Americans buy health insurance instead of ending it abruptly. Sen. Lamar Alexander, who chairs the committee that oversees health care issues, said Monday a 鈥渢wo-step鈥 process for ending the insurance mandate and other provisions is something that senators have been discussing. (Collins and Whetstone, 5/22)
Two conservative groups are seeking to influence the Senate鈥檚 healthcare bill with a list of recommendations aimed at keeping the bill to the right.聽Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Partners detailed their requests in a聽letter sent Monday聽to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has convened a聽working group of senators to examine what ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill can pass the chamber. (Roubein, 5/22)
The American Health Care Act聽that recently passed the House would fundamentally change the individual insurance market, and it could significantly alter coverage for people who get coverage through their employers too. The bill would allow states to opt out of some of the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, including no longer requiring plans sold on the individual market to cover 10 鈥渆ssential health benefits,鈥 such as hospitalization, drugs and maternity care. (Andrews, 5/23)
Meanwhile, back in the House聽鈥
House Republicans on Wednesday plan to start work on three Obamacare replacement bills they鈥檙e hoping to pass with bipartisan support, sources familiar with the matter said. These bills are part of the so-called third bucket of the GOP repeal and replace strategy 鈥 legislation that doesn't fit the fast-track budget reconciliation procedure being used to get Obamacare repeal through the Senate, but which further advances the Republican vision of reshaping health care. (Haberkorn and Everett, 5/22)
And, a look at how many people have gained coverage under the Affordable Care Act聽鈥
The number of Americans without health insurance has fallen drastically in recent years, according to new data from the National Center for Health Statistics. In 2016, there were 28.6 million Americans without health insurance, down from more than 48 million in 2010. Some 12.4 percent of adults aged 18 to 24 were uninsured, 69.2 percent were covered by private plans and 20 percent had public coverage. (Bakalar, 5/22)
