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Republicans are weighing whether to use a complicated budget maneuver to help pay for additional ObamaCare funding, sources say. The idea being considered by House Republican leaders is controversial because it would help fund key ObamaCare payments, something that many conservatives decry as a "bailout" of the law. Under the possible plan, the Budget Committee would direct the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to take ObamaCare payments known as cost-sharing reductions (CSRs) out of its “baseline” for projecting federal spending. Essentially, the agency would stop assuming that the ObamaCare payments would be made. (Sullivan, 3/1)

As many as 4.3 million people are projected to leave the individual and small group insurance markets to enroll in association health plans over the next five years if the Trump administration's recent proposal to expand those plans is approved, according to a new analysis. As healthy, young people switch to association plans, premiums in the ACA individual and small group would rise as much as 4% between 2018 and 2022, according to healthcare consulting firm Avalere Health. Because of those premium increases, Avalere projected that another 130,000 to 140,000 people would become uninsured in five years, compared to current law. The study was funded by insurance industry lobbying group America's Health Insurance Plans, but Avalere said it maintained full editorial control. (Livingston, 2/28)

Kaiser Health News: ACA’s Popularity Grows, Even As GOP Lauds Change To Requirement To Have Coverage

Despite President Donald Trump’s boasting that “we have essentially repealed Obamacare,” a new poll shows the Affordable Care Act is more popular than ever. In fact, many people don’t know Congress repealed the ACA’s penalty for not having insurance. The poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found 54 percent of Americans had a favorable view of the 2010 health law that expanded health coverage to millions. That was up four points from January, and it’s highest point since the monthly survey began in 2010. (Galewitz, 3/1)

The Trump administration proposal to increase how long consumers can maintain a short-term health insurance policy offers states an opportunity to rebel or endorse the policy. While officials in some states are looking to reject the administration’s proposed rule that would allow individuals to be covered by a short-term, limited duration health plan for 364 days, lawmakers in other states have sought to codify the proposal in state law. Some states already have limitations on short-term policies, which are not required to meet certain federal requirements, that would limit the effects of a rule in their markets. (McIntire, 3/1)

Premiums for people in Colorado who buy health insurance on their own could rise substantially again next year, this time as the result of a recent Trump administration proposal to expand short-term coverage, according to a report released Tuesday.  Short-term plans are exempt from the rules of the Affordable Care Act, meaning that they often cost — and cover — a lot less than longer-term plans. The Trump proposal would allow short-term plans to last an entire year, creating a cheaper option for healthy people who don’t need the Affordable Care Act’s protections for pre-existing conditions or other guaranteed benefits. In the Obama administration, the plans were limited to covering only three months at a time. (Ingold, 2/28)

Gov. Scott Walker (Wis.), a Republican who has been one of ObamaCare's most vocal opponents, signed a bill Tuesday that would shore up the law's insurance markets. The bill would authorize the state to apply for a federal waiver to offer a reinsurance program covering 80 percent of medical claims costing between $50,000 and $250,000. (Hellmann, 2/28)