Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria last month. During a debt crisis, they also faced Zika virus last year. It became clear during that public health emergency that Puerto Rico’s Medicaid block grant was insufficient and did not have enough flexibility to help address the crisis. Now it is worse. “Treating the health needs...
Category: News Posts
It’s (Almost) All Health Care, All the Time in Congress
The Administrations action to stop CSRs may light a fire under Congress to authorize the CSRs and may even help to stabilize the individual market. But Congress also has important programs to reauthorize, including the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Community Health Center (CHC) Fund. These are critical safety net programs and must...
What Does the Public Think?
The Kaiser Family Foundation October Health Tracking Poll finds public support for stabilizing the ACA marketplace with guaranteed CSR payments. Most importantly, 71% of respondents would prefer to see the Trump Administration make the ACA work. A recent poll shows that Jimmy Kimmel won the health care debate in the court of public opinion. Kimmel...
“Listen All of Y’all It’s a Sabotage”
The words of the Beastie Boys “Sabotage” have been running through (some of) our heads recently as the President takes more swipes at the Affordable Care Act (ACA). He is using all his tools to sabotage the Exchanges. The changes to open enrollment were bad – the shortened open enrollment period, reduced outreach and enrollment...
No More Insurance Company “Bailouts”
The President announced that the government would stop paying cost-sharing subsidies immediately. The future of cost sharing reductions (CSRs) has been murky, as detailed back in August. Unless Congress intervenes and strikes a bipartisan deal to extend the CSRs – and soon – the result will be a national average 20% premium increase for Exchange...
Distracted Senate Drops the Ball on Important Reauthorizations – Significant Impacts on Low-Income Families Possible
Despite an announcement of a deal on Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) reauthorization a few weeks ago, the Senate took no action when they quickly shifted attention to Graham-Cassidy. The program’s authorization expired last Saturday. Nine million children are covered by CHIP, with over 60,000 children covered in Washington State annually. Contradicting prior reports, Washington...
Changes in Health & Human Services Administrative Leadership and Direction
The Trump Administration lost again with the scandal and subsequent resignation of Health and Human Services Secretary, Tom Price. Rumors are rampant about his potential replacement. Unfortunately, while Price is out, his agency’s draft strategic plan remains – and notably absent is any reference to continued implementation and support of the Affordable Care Act’s coverage...