Congress is barreling towards a March 23 deadline to complete work on a invoice to fund a lot of the federal authorities for the rest of the fiscal yr. That invoice can be supposed to incorporate separate laws geared toward stabilizing premiums for people who purchase their very own medical health insurance. But the laws is being slowed by a variety of coverage disputes, together with ones associated to abortion.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services has instructed Idaho that it can’t authorize insurance coverage that particularly violate the Affordable Care Act. And a brand new examine reveals — once more — that whereas individuals within the U.S. use about the identical quantity of well being providers as individuals in different rich international locations, Americans pay far larger costs for these providers.
This week’s panelists for KHN’s “What the Health?” are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo.
Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:
Washington Sen. Patty Murray, who’s main the Democrats’ efforts on stabilizing the person insurance coverage market, might have the higher hand for the long run. Some Democrats assume that current particular elections present that voters care extra about preserving the advantages of the well being legislation than undermining it. Republicans, too, may acquire with a stabilization invoice as a result of research counsel the efforts may assist decrease premiums, which might be particularly pronounced amongst individuals who earn an excessive amount of to get federal subsidies to assist pay their premiums. With Congress having didn’t defund Planned Parenthood in laws final yr, HHS appears to be making an attempt to transform the federal household planning program to reduce the group’s participation. But, up to now, the administration has not gone so far as it may have. The saga in Idaho is constant — at the very least, that’s what Idaho officers counsel. Despite a letter from federal officers saying the state should obey the Affordable Care Act, Idaho officers say the matter shouldn’t be but settled as a result of the modifications they’re suggesting for the insurance coverage market are higher than what the Trump administration is selling. Email Sign-Up
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Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists advocate their favourite well being tales of the week they assume it is best to learn, too.
Julie Rovner: Journal of the American Medical Association’s “Health Care Spending in the United States and Other High-Income Countries,” by Irene Papanicolas, Liana R. Woskie and Ashish Ok. Jha.
Joanne Kenen: The New York Times’ “Museums Fight the Isolation and Pain of Dementia,” by Farah Nayeri.
Alice Ollstein: Kaiser Health News’ “Medicaid Is Rural America’s Financial Midwife,” by Shefali Luthra.
Paige Winfield Cunningham: CNN’s “The More Opioids Doctors Prescribe, The More Money They Make,” by Aaron Kessler, Elizabeth Cohen and Katherine Grise.
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Related Topics Health Care Costs Multimedia The Health Law Abortion Contraception HHS Idaho Podcast Premiums U.S. Congress