Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Idaho Invites Insurers To Sell Plans That Don't Adhere To ACA's Rules, In Move Experts Call Legally Dubious
Concerned about soaring health care costs, Idaho on Wednesday revealed a plan that will allow insurance companies to sell cheap policies that ditch key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. It's believed to be the first state to take formal steps without prior federal approval for creating policies that do not comply with the Obama-era health care law. Health care experts say the move is legally dubious, a concern supported by internal records obtained by The Associated Press. (Boone, 1/24)
In other health law news聽鈥
The Trump administration is exploring ways to excuse more Americans from the requirement聽that they prove they鈥檙e insured in the remaining months before the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 individual mandate is laid to rest. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is working on guidance expanding the 鈥渉ardship鈥 exemptions from the 2010 health-care law鈥檚 mandate that people purchase health plans, according to two people familiar with the effort. Agency officials haven鈥檛 yet finalized the guidance, but聽aim聽to increase the number of reasons people could cite as justifications for not聽showing they鈥檙e insured when they file their tax returns. (Winfield Cunningham and Eilperin, 1/24)
Democrats and activists fought off Obamacare repeal last year by stoking public outrage and stirring protests. Now they want to make the health law the defining issue in 2018 races at the congressional, state and local levels. The grassroots groups at the forefront of the Obamacare fight are expanding their focus to rally opposition to virtually all Republican efforts to alter the health care system, hoping to capitalize on the backlash to repeal and turn it into a wave of victories come November. (Cancryn, 1/24)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Wednesday that he is pushing to revisit the repeal of ObamaCare this year. Cruz told reporters that he thinks GOP leadership is interested "if we can get 50 votes." "We have to bring the conference together to be able to move forward," he added. (Sullivan, 1/24)
Harvard researchers have found that the Affordable Care Act was linked to better access to surgery and higher quality care, the university said. ... The study, which was published Wednesday in JAMA Surgery, looked at five years of data from nearly 300,000 patients in 42 states who were admitted to the hospital for five common surgical conditions, such as appendicitis, diverticulitis, or gallbladder inflammation. (Finucane, 1/24)
