In his high-stakes strategy to overhaul the federal health law, President Donald Trump is threatening to upend the individual health insurance market with several key policies. But if the market actually breaks, could anyone put it back together again? The question is more than theoretical. The Trump administration has already acted to depress enrollment in Affordable Care…
New Rules Try To Shore Up Individual Health Insurance Market In 2018
While Congress continues to struggle with how to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration unveiled its first regulation aimed at keeping insurers participating in the individual market in 2018. “These are initial steps in advance of a broader effort to reverse the harmful effects of Obamacare, promote positive solutions to improve…
Five Quick Ways New HHS Secretary Tom Price Could Change The Course Of Health Policy
After a bruising confirmation process, the Senate confirmed Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., to head up the Department of Health and Human Services, by a 52-to-47 vote. As secretary, Price will have significant authority to rewrite the rules for the Affordable Care Act, some of which are reportedly nearly ready to be issued. But there is much more…
Budget Scorekeepers Say GOP Plan Would Raise The Number Of Uninsured By 32M
The bill considered the most likely prototype for partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act would result in as many as 32 million more people without health insurance and would double premiums in the individual insurance market, budget scorekeepers said Tuesday. The estimate by the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation was on the…
Obama’s Challenge To GOP: Show Me Your Plan Before Repealing Mine
Trying to protect his signature Affordable Care Act from being hastily dismantled by the new GOP Congress, President Barack Obama took to the media to pressure Republicans to unveil a replacement proposal before they repeal major parts of the law. In an interview webcast by Vox.com and an op-ed in the New England Journal of Medicine, the president…
Trump, GOP In Congress Could Use “Must-Pass” Bills To Bring Health Changes
Throughout the campaign, President-Elect Donald Trump’s entire health message consisted of promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act. That remains difficult with Democrats still commanding enough power in the Senate to block the 60 votes needed for a full repeal. Republicans could use fast-track budget authority to make some major changes to the law, although…