The Colorado Health Policy Coalition shared these thoughts earlier today:
"It’s been about a month since Congressional leaders withdrew the American Health Care Act and we’ve not seen an alternative emerge…yet. However, speculation about possible Congressional activity as early as next week is flying. Here are links to a few recent articles on likely next steps in Washington:
Commissioner Salazar’s letter comes in response to a couple of key developments last week. On April 13, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final Market Stabilization rule designed to “help lower premiums and stabilize individual and small group markets and increase choices for Americans.” You can read the CMS press release, which includes details about the rule, here or read the rule itself here. Also last week, the administration’s threat of withholding Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) payments included in the Affordable Care Act as a way to force negotiations over a repeal and replace bill came to a head. These stories from Vox and Bloomberg help to explain the CSR payments and how politically charged this debate over a seemingly small element of the broader health policy framework has become.
These two developments are closely connected in that they relate to stability of the private market and affordability of coverage available there. Perhaps more importantly, the controversy over these measures illustrates just how difficult it is to make effective piecemeal changes to health care.
Reactions these developments have been interesting to see. To get a sense of the opinions on both the Market Stabilization Rule and the importance of the CSR payments to both insurers and consumers, you can read comments from America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Families USA, a national consumer advocacy group and see what two former Senate Majority Leaders, Bill Frist and Tom Daschle had to say here. This analysis from the Health Affairs blog and coverage in Modern Healthcare was also helpful."
Want to get active on these issues? Engage in the Protect Our Care Colorado coalition (managed by the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative)!
"It’s been about a month since Congressional leaders withdrew the American Health Care Act and we’ve not seen an alternative emerge…yet. However, speculation about possible Congressional activity as early as next week is flying. Here are links to a few recent articles on likely next steps in Washington:
- Brat: New Obamacare Repeal Bill has ‘Significant’ Changes, The Hill, April 21
- White House Pressures House Leaders on Obamacare Showdown Next Week, Politico, April 20
- White House Turns Up the Heat on Congress to Revise the Affordable Care Act, Washington Post, April 20
Commissioner Salazar’s letter comes in response to a couple of key developments last week. On April 13, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final Market Stabilization rule designed to “help lower premiums and stabilize individual and small group markets and increase choices for Americans.” You can read the CMS press release, which includes details about the rule, here or read the rule itself here. Also last week, the administration’s threat of withholding Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) payments included in the Affordable Care Act as a way to force negotiations over a repeal and replace bill came to a head. These stories from Vox and Bloomberg help to explain the CSR payments and how politically charged this debate over a seemingly small element of the broader health policy framework has become.
These two developments are closely connected in that they relate to stability of the private market and affordability of coverage available there. Perhaps more importantly, the controversy over these measures illustrates just how difficult it is to make effective piecemeal changes to health care.
Reactions these developments have been interesting to see. To get a sense of the opinions on both the Market Stabilization Rule and the importance of the CSR payments to both insurers and consumers, you can read comments from America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Families USA, a national consumer advocacy group and see what two former Senate Majority Leaders, Bill Frist and Tom Daschle had to say here. This analysis from the Health Affairs blog and coverage in Modern Healthcare was also helpful."
Want to get active on these issues? Engage in the Protect Our Care Colorado coalition (managed by the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative)!
No comments:
Post a Comment