Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
The Winners: Insurance Companies, Young People And The Rich
Any sizable change in our complex health care system leaves some people and businesses better or worse off. For some, insurance will become more affordable 鈥 or their taxes will be lower. Others will lose out on financial support or health care coverage. You can see how you might be affected in our summary of winners and losers. (Sanger-Katz, 5/4)
It鈥檚 the first step toward fulfilling a promise Republican legislators have campaigned on for seven years. But even though the House voted Thursday to repeal major elements of the Affordable Care Act, the effort still faces a number of major political hurdles, not the least of which is that little is known about this legislation鈥檚 impacts. That鈥檚 because the GOP leadership muscled Thursday鈥檚 vote through before the Congressional Budget Office, the legislative branch鈥檚 nonpartisan analytics arm, had a chance to fully assess聽the latest bill as it had with a previous version. (Facher, 5/4)
It is a rare unifying moment. Hospitals, doctors, health insurers and some consumer groups, with few exceptions, are speaking with one voice and urging significant changes to the Republican health care legislation that passed the House on Thursday. (Abelson and Thomas, 5/4)
The AHCA would shrink Medicaid coverage, undercut some protections for people with preexisting conditions and eliminate billions of dollars in taxes that currently help pay for the ACA. We've broken down how its provisions would change health coverage for nine key groups of people. (Neel, Kodjak and Hurt, 5/4)
The health care bill passed by the House on Thursday is a win for the wealthy, in terms of taxes. While the Affordable Care Act raised taxes on the rich to subsidize health insurance for the poor, the repeal-and-replace bill passed by House Republicans would redistribute hundreds of billions of dollars in the opposite direction. It would deliver a sizable tax cut to the rich, while reducing government subsidies for Medicaid recipients and those buying coverage on the individual market. (Horsley, 5/4)
Representative Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma, loves the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When he鈥檚 asked about public health funding, he often recites a favorite factoid: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e much more likely to die in a pandemic than in a terrorist attack.鈥 But before the House passed the American Health Care Act on Thursday, Cole 鈥 who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that oversees health spending 鈥 would not say how Congress would replace the nearly $1 billion in grants the bill would strip from the CDC and other federal agencies if it becomes law. (Facher, 5/4)