Republican efforts to change the well being regulation, left for useless in September, got here roaring again to life this week because the Senate Finance Committee added a repeal of the “individual mandate” fines for not sustaining medical insurance to their tax invoice.
In this episode of “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Sarah Kliff of Vox.com, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo talk about the opposite well being implications of the tax invoice, in addition to the present state of the Affordable Care Act.
Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:
The tax invoice debate proves that Republicans’ zeal to repeal the Affordable Care Act is rarely useless. The new congressional efforts to kill the penalties for the well being regulation’s particular person mandate might critically wound the ACA because the mandate helps drive wholesome individuals to purchase insurance coverage. One of probably the most ignored penalties of the tax debate is that it might set off a considerable reduce in federal spending on Medicare. A $25,000 MRI? That’s what one household paid to exit of their plan’s community to get the hospital they needed for the process for his or her Three-year-old. Such selections are once more drawing complaints about slender networks of medical doctors and hospitals out there in some well being plans. Although they don’t probably say it in entrance of cameras, many Democrats are relieved at President Donald Trump’s alternative to move the Department of Health and Human Services, former HHS official Alex Azar. Federal officers have given 10 states and 4 territories more money to maintain their Children’s Health Insurance Programs operating however it’s not clear what sofa they discovered the cash hidden in. And in remembrance of Uwe Reinhardt, a reminder that he at all times confused that a well being care debate was about greater than cash — it was about actual individuals. Email Sign-Up
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Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest their favourite well being tales of the week they assume it’s best to learn, too.
Julie Rovner: Statnews.com’s “This Tennessee insurer doesn’t play by Obamacare’s rules — and the GOP sees it as the future,” by Erin Mershon.
Also: Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s “What’s Going on in Tennessee? One Possible Reason for Its Affordable Care Act Challenges,” by Kevin Lucia and Sabrina Corlette.
Sarah Kliff: Bloomberg Businessweek’s “How to Make a Fortune on Obamacare,” by Bryan Gruley, Zachary Tracer, and Hannah Recht.
Joanne Kenen: Politico Magazine’s “How Bourbon and Big Data Are Cleaning Up Louisville,” by Arthur Allen.
Alice Ollstein: Talking Points Memo’s “Trump’s Abrupt Policy Shift Fuels Misleading Obamacare Renewal Info,” by Alice Ollstein.
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