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ashoup
In News, Administration

“Cheap for A Reason”: Outcry Against Trump’s Junk Plan Proposal

This morning the Trump administration announced its decision to allow junk plans that can deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, that are not required to cover key benefits, such as cancer treatments and prescription drug coverage, and that can refuse to pay for costs by claiming that you had a pre existing condition you didn’t tell them about.  

News coverage has called the administration’s actions out for what they are: a blatant move to dismantle protections for people with pre-existing conditions and undermine the Affordable Care Act.

Headlines paint a telling picture:

  • HuffPost: Horrible Health Insurance Now Legal Again, Thanks To Trump. [HuffPost, 8/1/18]
  • Bloomberg: Short-Term Health Plans Backed By Trump Are Cheap For A Reason. [Bloomberg, 7/31/18]
  • Associated Press: Officials Are Promoting Lower-Cost, Short-Term Health Plans. [Associated Press, 8/1/18]
  • New York Times: ‘Short Term’ Health Insurance? Up To 3 Years Under New Trump Policy. [New York Times, 8/1/18]
  • San Diego Union-Tribune: Trump Administration Widens Availability Of Skimpy, Short-Term Health Plans. [San Diego Times-Union, 8/1/18]
  • Politico: Trump Whacks Obamacare By Boosting Short-Term Health Plans. [Politico, 8/1/18]
  • Washington Post: Trump Administration Widens Availability Of Skimpy, Short-Term Health Plans. [Washington Post, 8/1/18]
  • Los Angeles Times: Trump Administration Moves To Further Expand Skimpy Health Plans. [Los Angeles Times, 8/1/18]
  • NPR: Under New Rules, Cheaper ‘Short-Term’ Health Care Plans Now Last Up To Three Years. [NPR, 8/1/18]
  • Governing: Trump Administration Loosens Restrictions On Skimpy, Short-Term Health Plans. [Governing, 8/1/18]
  • Kaiser Health News: Trump Administration Loosens Restrictions On Short-Term Health Plans. [Kaiser Health News, 8/1/18]
  • The Cut: Trump’s New Insurance Rules Put Women And Children At Risk. [The Cut, 8/1/18]

Reporters have been quick to note that these plans will hurt consumers…

Los Angeles Times: Expanding Short-Term Plans Is Opposed By Nearly Every Patient Advocacy Organization In The Country. “Expanding short-term plans also risks driving up costs for Americans with preexisting medical conditions who need more comprehensive benefits…Among the groups that have opposed the Trump administration’s moves are virtually every leading patient advocacy organization in the country, including the American Lung Assn., the American Heart Assn., the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the March of Dimes, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Susan G. Komen, AARP and the advocacy arm of the American Cancer Society.

HuffPost: Short-Term Plans Provide Junk Coverage And Drive Up Costs Of Comprehensive Care. “Meanwhile, those seeking out comprehensive plans because they want or need them will discover those policies have gotten more expensive, thanks to the way short-term plans will affect the rest of the insurance market. Some insurance shoppers will have serious, even life-threatening diseases, such as cancer, which will mean their insurance must have a full set of benefits. But those kinds of policies will become more expensive than they can afford. [HuffPost, 8/1/18]

Bloomberg: Cheaper Plans “Can Come At A Cost.” “For some people, though, the cheaper premiums can come at a cost, such as when insurers claim that a cancer treatment shouldn’t be covered because a patient had the disease before buying coverage, as Bloomberg reported in October.” [Bloomberg, 7/31/18]

Short-Term Plans Sometimes Impose Unexpected Rules, Like For Instance Refusing To Cover Hospitalizations During The Weekend. “There may be other strange rules. A review of some plan documents from Families USA found an Illinois plan that would cover only hospitalizations beginning during the week — inpatient stays that began on the weekend would not be allowed except in rare circumstances. Some plans had waiting periods for care. Cancer treatment, for example, is not covered in certain plans during the first month a person is enrolled in a plan, and no treatment for illness is covered in the first five days. That’s the kind of detail that might be easy to overlook when signing up for a plan if you aren’t expecting a cancer diagnosis.” [New York Times, 8/1/18]

….financially benefit insurance companies….

With Short-Term Plans, Insurance Companies Can Spend Less Money On Medical Care. “According to research from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the average short-term plan in 2017 spent less than 65 percent of premium dollars on medical care. Some of the short-term plans in the association’s analysis keep more than half of all premiums as overhead and profit.” [New York Times, 8/1/18]

Brokers Tend To Make Higher Commission On Short-Term Plans. “Brokers also tend to make higher commissions on the short-term plans, since the companies share a cut of their larger profits to get referrals. According to eHealth, a national online brokerage, a typical Obamacare-compliant plan pays a commission of around 5 percent, while short-term plans pay out commissions closer to 20 percent. Because short-term plans are currently limited to 90 days, brokers now make more money selling comprehensive plans that cover more benefits. But that math may shift as short-term plans expand their duration under the new rule, giving brokers a stronger financial incentive to sell short-term plans instead.” [New York Times, 8/1/18]

…and are designed to undermine access to affordable, comprehensive care.

Huffington Post: “The New Rules Represent One Of The Most Consequential Steps That President Donald Trump And His Republican Allies Have Taken In Their Campaign To Dismantle The 2010 Health Care Law Known As Obamacare.” [HuffPost, 8/1/18]

Washington Post: Making It Easier To Buy Plans That Circumvent The Law Part Of Trump’s Strategy To Undercut The ACA.“Making it easier to buy health plans that avoid the law’s protections is part of a strategy being employed by Trump and his aides of relying on executive powers to undercut aspects of the law, whose demolition has been one of Trump’s central goals since his 2016 campaign.” [Washington Post, 8/1/18]

San Diego Union-Tribune: Plans Are “Devised To Foster Low-Price Insurance That Circumvents The Affordable Care Act’s Coverage Requirements And Consumer Protections.” “The new rules are the second tool the administration has devised lately to foster low-price insurance that circumvents the Affordable Care Act’s coverage requirements and consumer protections. In June, the Labor Department issued rules that will make it easier for small companies to buy a type of insurance known as association health plans and, for the first time, allow them to be sold to people who are self-employed…Both can have bigger price differences between older customers and younger ones. But only the short-term plans can also charge higher prices to customers with medical conditions that require care, deny them coverage, or avoid covering health problems that a customer had before buying the insurance — all practices that the ACA bans.” [San Diego Times-Union, 8/1/18]

ashoup
In Administration, News

Why Missourians’ Insurance Is Getting Even More Expensive: the Trump Administration and Washington Republicans Keep Sabotaging Health Care

Washington, D.C. – As preliminary Missouri rate filings for 2019 individual-market health insurance indicate average premium increases as high as 25.7 percent due to Washington Republicans’ repeal-and-sabotage agenda, Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, released the following statement:

“For the past year and a half, President Trump and his Republican allies have engaged in a deliberate, aggressive campaign to undermine health care and now families in Missouri are being asked to pay the price. While insurance companies make huge profits and enjoy record tax breaks from Republicans, working families in Missouri will be charged even more. Until we stop the GOP’s war on health care, experts predict that rates will keep rising. Republicans should start working on bipartisan solutions to make coverage more affordable, instead of helping their friends in the insurance and drug industry charge more and see their profits soar.”

From the Insurance Companies:

Cigna: GOP Elimination Of Individual Mandate And Pushing Of Short-Term Junk Plans Responsible For Increases. “The risk pool is significantly impacted by changes in…elimination of the Individual Mandate penalties, anticipated changes to regulations regarding Short Term Medical and Association Health Plans that will impact the Affordable Care Act risk pool… The anticipated effects of these changes when coupled with previous regulatory changes and overall utilization experienced in recent years suggest that it is appropriate to increase the overall claim level assumption reflected in the premiums for individual plans in Missouri.” [Cigna, 8/1/18]

Healthy Alliance Life Insurance Company: Rates Going Up Due To “ACA Market Uncertainty.” “Due to the uncertainty of the Individual ACA market, HALIC is also increasing its explicit profit assumption. The increased profit is in-line with the greater risk of this market.” [Healthy Alliance Life Insurance Company, 8/1/18]

Cigna: Rates Could Increase By As Much As 25.7 Percent. Per filings from Cigna, the individual market rate increases varied from 7.3%-25.7%. [Missouri Department of Insurance, 8/1/18]

Why Missourians’ Insurance Is Getting Even More Expensive: the Trump Administration and Washington Republicans Keep Sabotaging Health Care

While spending most of last year trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and waging a war on our health care, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have also used their control of Washington to actively undermine the Health Insurance Marketplaces every chance they get – leading insurance companies to raise premiums for 2018 and 2019 and, in some cases, forcing them out of the individual market altogether. Washington Republicans’ goal is simple: sabotage and undermine the Affordable Care Act, then blame everyone but themselves for the consequences of their actions. President Trump keeps rooting for disaster, saying that “The best thing we can do…is let Obamacare explode” and “Let it be a disaster because we can blame that on the Democrats.”

Now, initial rate filings in Missouri forecast rate hikes again this fall because of Republican sabotage.

Republicans never ended their war on our health care. After Congress failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Trump Administration is aggressively sabotaging our health care system and refusing to work to make coverage better and more affordable.

  • Experts from AARP, the Congressional Budget Office, and a wide range of other nonpartisan organizations agree that Republican actions are forcing up health care costs.
  • Republicans in Congress are supporting the Administration’s many actions to undermine health care, despite widespread opposition from patient and disease groups, doctors, nurses, hospitals, plus health care and consumer advocates.
  • The Trump Administration officials keep rewriting the rules to let big insurance companies cover fewer and fewer services while charging people more and more. The sabotage doesn’t stop there: last year the Administration fired many of the community assisters who help people enroll in health care; this year they are planning more enrollment cuts, making it even harder to sign up for coverage.
  • And now, Republicans are encouraging insurance companies to sell more junk plans that don’t have to cover basic care like hospitalization and prescription drugs, and that are allowed to charge people with pre-existing conditions more or even deny them coverage altogether. In Missouri, no short-term plans available have to cover maternity care, and only 25 percent of plans cover prescription drugs.

This could have been avoided: if Republicans had stopped sabotaging health care, American families wouldn’t be facing another huge increase this fall.

  • Even the Trump Administration has admitted that the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces had been stabilizing prior to them coming into office.
  • The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had predicted only modest rate increases if Republicans hadn’t sabotaged the markets.
  • Even Senate Republicans admitted this fall’s upcoming rate hikes were “avoidable,” but then they torched bipartisan stabilization talks at the last minute, prioritizing partisan politics over their last opportunity to help American families afford health care next year.

The Trump Administration’s sabotage will punish Americans by jacking up premiums again, compounding the damage done last year, when Republican sabotage pushed rates up by a national average of 37 percent, and 42 percent in Missouri.

  • The Republican tax bill’s repeal of a key Affordable Care Act provision and the Trump Administration’s junk plan proposal will increase individual market premiums in Missouri by an average 18.3 percent this fall, according to a recent Urban Institute study.
  • This sabotage-driven rate hike will make the damage Republicans inflicted last year through repeal attempts and sabotage even worse.
  • Higher premiums will mean fewer working families can afford coverage: during the first year of the Trump Administration, millions more Americans joined the ranks of the uninsured – the highest increase since Gallup started tracking the uninsured rate.

Despite Republican sabotage, the Affordable Care Act has improved Missourians’ care.

  • 243,382 Missourians signed up for Marketplace coverage this year.
  • Thanks to the Marketplace, Missouri’s uninsured rate fell by 3.2 percent between 2013 and 2016 as Missourians have gained access to affordable coverage.
  • Before today’s announcement, the Urban Institute predicted that Missouri premiums for 2019 could rise 18.3 percent more because of the Trump Administration’s junk plan proposal and the Republican tax bill’s repeal of a key Affordable Care Act coverage incentive.
  • Even despite sabotage, Affordable Care Act subsidies help keep coverage affordable for 84 percent of Missouri Marketplace consumers, whose average 2018 premium is $75 per month.
  • But because of the Republican sabotage agenda, many middle-income Missourians could pay hundreds or thousands of dollars more than they would have otherwise.

Missourians won’t forget that Republicans and the Trump Administration keep forcing up health care costs to score political points.

  • Health care costs are a top issue in nearly every major issue-ranked poll in 2018.
  • Voters overwhelmingly trust Democrats over Republicans on health care costs.
  • In poll after poll, voters resoundingly reject President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ repeal-and-sabotage campaign against the Affordable Care Act.

KEY QUOTES

America’s Health Insurance Plans: Administration’s DOJ Decision Would “Cause Rates To Go Even Higher For Older Americans And Sicker Patients.” “Zeroing out the individual mandate penalty should not result in striking important consumer protections, such as guaranteed issue and community rating rules that help those with pre-existing conditions. Removing those provisions will result in renewed uncertainty in the individual market, create a patchwork of requirements in the states, cause rates to go even higher for older Americans and sicker patients, and make it challenging to introduce products and rates for 2019. Instead, we should focus on advancing proven solutions that ensure affordability for all consumers. [AHIP, 6/8/18]

Associated Press: Administration’s Decision Could “Nudge Premiums Even Higher.” “The Trump administration’s decision to stop defending in court the Obama health law’s popular protections for consumers with pre-existing conditions could prove risky for Republicans in the midterm elections — and nudge premiums even higher.” [CNBC, 6/8/18]

Timothy Jost, Washington & Lee University Law Professor: Administration’s Decision Could Leave Millions Of Americans Facing “Denial Of Coverage Or Higher Premiums.” “Yesterday, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice dropped a bombshell in a rural Texas federal courthouse. The administration stated in a court filing (and also in letters to Congressional leaders) that it would not defend three key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). If the judge in the case agrees, millions of Americans with preexisting conditions could face denial of coverage or higher premiums.” [Commonwealth Fund, 6/8/18]

Ceci Connolly, Alliance Of Community Health Plans: Administration’s Decision Decision Could Spark Fresh Market Instability. “Ceci Connolly, president of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, called the legal position ‘troubling’ and warned it could spark fresh market instability. ‘At the very least it adds uncertainty at exactly the moment when plans are trying to set rates for next year,’ Connolly said in a statement. ‘At the worst, it could strip away guaranteed coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. We don’t want to return to the days when people who needed the care the most could be turned away because of their health status.’” [Modern Healthcare, 6/8/18]

Fortune: If Administration’s Decision Is Implemented, “There’s A Strong Change Insurers Would Begin Charging Sicker People Significantly More.” “To date, many low-income people have been shielded from those increases since federal subsidies to help pay premiums rise in tandem with the spikes. Middle-class families who don’t qualify for the subsidies are left either swallowing the higher premiums or forgoing coverage. If the protections for people with pre-existing conditions are ultimately shot down, there’s a strong chance insurers would begin charging sicker people significantly more for their coverage while younger and healthier Americans would see lower prices.” [Fortune, 6/11/18]

Former HHS Secretary Tom Price: GOP Actions Responsible For Premium Increases. “President Trump’s former top health official on Tuesday said the Republican tax law would raise the cost of health insurance for some Americans because it repealed a core provision of the Affordable Care Act. Tom Price, Trump’s first secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said people buying insurance on government-run marketplaces will face higher prices because the tax law repealed the ACA’s individual mandate. The mandate had forced most Americans to have health coverage or face a financial penalty. ‘There are many, and I’m one of them, who believes that that actually will harm the pool in the exchange market, because you’ll likely have individuals who are younger and healthier not participating in that market, and consequently that drives up the cost for other folks within that market,’ Price said at the World Health Care Conference in Washington.” [Washington Post, 5/1/18]

America’s Health Insurance Plans: Republican Sabotage Will “Drive Up The Rate Of Premium Increases.” “Policies that disproportionately draw healthy consumers away from the individual market, like expanding access to short-term plans, will likely have an even more devastating effect on affordability, choice and competition. This will further result in adverse selection, drive up the rate of premium increases, and exacerbate affordability issues for many other people.” [America’s Health Insurance Plans Letter to HHS, 4/20/18]

Cynthia Cox, Kaiser Family Foundation: “In The Absence Of Efforts To Undermine The Market, We Would Be Seeing A Period Of Relatively Small Premium Increases.” “‘In the absence of efforts to undermine the market, we would be seeing a period of relatively small premium increases, driven mostly by the underlying growth in health care costs,’ said Cynthia Cox, the lead author of the Kaiser Family Foundation report. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re in for another year of double-digit premium increases. And if that does happen, it would be in large part due to policy changes that are happening.’” [Huffington Post, 5/18/18]

Kris Haltmeyer, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Vice President: “With The Repeal Of The Individual Mandate And The Failure Of Congress To Enact Stabilization Legislation, We Are Expecting Premiums To Go Up Substantially.” Kris Haltmeyer, a vice president at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, told reporters that the premium increases were in part due to the repeal of ObamaCare’s individual mandate in the Republican tax reform bill in December. He also cited lawmakers’ failure to pass a bill aimed at shoring up the market, which fell apart earlier this year amid a partisan dispute over abortion restrictions. ‘With the repeal of the individual mandate and the failure of Congress to enact stabilization legislation, we are expecting premiums to go up substantially,’ Haltmeyer said. He estimated that average premium increases nationwide will be in the ‘low teens,’ but that there will be major variation across areas, ranging from the low single digits to up to 70 or 80 percent.” [The Hill, 5/23]

New York Times Editorial Board: “The Administration’s Health Care Sabotage Efforts Have Already Had A Big Impact”: A 30-Percent Premium Increase. “The administration’s health care sabotage efforts have already had a big impact — but not the kind of impact officials promised. Insurance companies raised average premiums for 2018 A.C.A. policies by 30 percent. This has mostly hurt middle-class families who have to pay full freight for health insurance because they make too much money to qualify for subsidies and don’t get coverage through their employer. Few experts were surprised when the Commonwealth Fund found that the percentage of American adults who did not have health insurance jumped to 15.5 percent this year, from 12.7 percent before Mr. Trump took office. Experts say those numbers could climb higher still when the penalty for not having insurance goes away next year.” [NYT, 5/3/18]

Commonwealth Fund: Rollback Of Health Insurance Gains Spurred By “Actions By The Current Administration.” “The marked gains in health insurance coverage made since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 are beginning to reverse, according to new findings from the latest Commonwealth Fund ACA Tracking Survey. The coverage declines are likely the result of two major factors: 1) lack of federal legislative actions to improve specific weaknesses in the ACA and 2) actions by the current administration that have exacerbated those weaknesses. These include the administration’s deep cuts in advertising and outreach during the marketplace open-enrollment periods, a shorter open enrollment period, and other actions that collectively may have left people with a general sense of confusion about the status of the law. Signs point to further erosion of insurance coverage in 2019: the repeal of the individual mandate penalty included in the 2017 tax law, recent actions to increase the availability of insurance policies that don’t comply with ACA minimum benefit standards, and support for Medicaid work requirements.” [Commonwealth Fund, 5/1/18]

Center For American Progress: “Combined, The Recent Tax Law’s Repeal Of The Individual Mandate And The Administration’s Short-Term Plan Rule Will Undermine The Individual Insurance Market And Increase Premiums For ACA-Compliant Coverage.” “Last year, as part of the tax law, Congress eliminated the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate penalty. Given the mandate’s important role in encouraging healthier people to enroll in the marketplaces, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that, in 2019, this will increase average premiums in the individual market by 10 percent. Furthermore, in February 2018, the Trump administration proposed a rule to expand short-term health insurance plans… Along with the repeal of the individual mandate penalty, this expansion of short-term plans will drive up average premiums for ACA-compliant coverage in the individual market. Recent preliminary rate filings in Virginia demonstrate that these actions are contributing to significant premium increases for marketplace coverage in 2019. In fact, some Virginia insurers specifically cited the individual mandate repeal and short-term plan rule as major factors in their rate filings… Combined, the recent tax law’s repeal of the individual mandate and the administration’s short-term plan rule will undermine the individual insurance market and increase premiums for ACA-compliant coverage.” [CAP, 5/18]

New York Times: “Rather Than Trying To Eliminate Obamacare In One Fell Swoop, [Republicans Are] Trying To Undermine It With Multiple Acts Of Sabotage – While Hoping Voters Won’t Realize Who’s Responsible For Rising Premiums And Falling Coverage.” “At the beginning of 2017, Republicans promised to release the kraken on Obamacare — to destroy the program with one devastating blow. But a funny thing happened: Voters realized that repealing the Affordable Care Act would mean taking health insurance away from tens of millions of Americans. They didn’t like that prospect — and enough Republicans balked at the backlash that Obamacare repeal fizzled. But Republicans still hate the idea of helping Americans get health care. So instead of releasing the kraken, they’ve brought on the termites. Rather than trying to eliminate Obamacare in one fell swoop, they’re trying to undermine it with multiple acts of sabotage — while hoping voters won’t realize who’s responsible for rising premiums and falling coverage.” [NYT, 5/8/18]

Washington Post Editorial Board: “The Numbers Suggest That [The ACA’s] Critics’ Sabotage Efforts Are To Blame. “The effects of the president’s underinformed instincts, enabled by the ideologues in his administration, are beginning to show up in some of the numbers, representing real pain that Americans are suffering for Mr. Trump’s deficient leadership… Obamacare critics regularly describe all problems as the inevitable result of a poorly designed law. But the numbers suggest that the critics’ sabotage efforts are to blame. After impressive declines during President Barack Obama’s second term, the fund found that the uninsured rate increased in both of the years Mr. Trump has been in office. During the campaign, Mr. Trump regularly complained that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) left too many Americans uncovered. The result of nearly a year and a half of Mr. Trump’s leadership is 4 million people added to that group.” [Washington Post, 5/8/18]

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey: 2018 Premium Increase Was Due To Federal Policy. “Three factors connected to federal policy decisions are responsible for 14.7% of the 24.3% total average individual premium increase: Weakened enforcement of the Individual Mandate…Elimination of federal funding for Cost Sharing Reductions (CSR), [and] 2018 reinstatement of Health Insurance Tax…Were it not for the three factors within the control of the Federal Government, Horizon BCBSNJ’s individual premiums would have an average increase of 9.6%.” [Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, 10/17/17]

CEO of CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield: Things Are “Materially Worse” Under Trump. “Continuing actions on the part of the administration to systematically undermine the market and make it almost impossible to carry out the mission…If continued efforts at the federal level undermine the marketplaces, I would think the board would have to examine what they would want — that’s very much on their mind.” [Washington Post, 5/1/18]

Lindsey Graham: Republicans “Own The Outcome” On Health Care. “Sen. Graham told Breitbart News, ‘In October, premiums are going up. Obamacare cannot be fixed. It’s going to continue to collapse, and then, we own the outcome. By repealing the individual mandate, which is a step forward in the eyes of the public, we own the issue. We have a responsibility to do something about the collapsing Obamacare system. I believe that we’re going to get blamed more than Democrats because we stopped trying to repeal Obamacare, and to suggest that we don’t own it is just simply politically naive.’ Graham continued, ‘It can hurt us in 2018. It can hurt by our base feeling like we betrayed them. It can hurt us from people suffering from Obamacare, like we don’t have a solution. It will energize Democrats. It can undercut everything we did on the tax cut side.’” [Breitbart, 2/6/18]

Rep. Charlie Dent: “We, The Republican Party…Own” Health Care Now. “Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) argued Friday that President Trump was ‘ill-advised’ to end key ObamaCare payments, warning that the GOP now ‘owns’ whatever happens to ObamaCare. ‘I think the president is ill-advised to take this course of action because … we, the Republican Party, will own this,’ Dent, a key House moderate who is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, said on CNN. Asked about Trump’s previous comments blaming problems with ObamaCare on former President Barack Obama, Dent pointed out that Republicans currently control the White House and have majorities in both chambers of Congress. ‘Barack Obama is a former president. President Trump is the president and he’s a Republican, and we control the Congress,’ Dent said. ‘So we own the system now. We’re going to have to figure out a way to stabilize this situation … This is on us.’” [The Hill, 10/13/17]

Washington Post: “The Pottery Barn Rule Comes To Mind: You Break It, You Own It.” “This is not ‘letting’ Obamacare fail. Many nonpartisan experts believe that these active measures are likely to undermine the pillars of the 2010 law and hasten the collapse of the marketplaces. The Pottery Barn rule comes to mind: You break it, you own it. Yes, the plate you just shattered had some cracks in it. But if you dropped it on the ground, the store is going to blame you.” [Washington Post, 10/13/17]

Washington Post: “Trump’s Not Going To Be Able To Avoid Blame For Kneecapping Obamacare.” [Washington Post, 10/13/17]

“After Months Of Pinning The Blame For Obamacare’s Shortcomings On Democrats And Watching His Own Party Fail To Act, President Donald Trump Just Took Ownership Of A Struggle That’s Consumed Republicans For Seven Years.” “After months of pinning the blame for Obamacare’s shortcomings on Democrats and watching his own party fail to act, President Donald Trump just took ownership of a struggle that’s consumed Republicans for seven years. Trump’s decision late Thursday to end government subsidies to insurers to help lower-income Americans afford to use their coverage under the Affordable Care Act was the most drastic step he’s taken to undermine his predecessor’s signature achievement. It also lobbed a live bomb into the laps of Republicans lawmakers 13 months before congressional elections after he publicly berated the party’s Senate leadership for being unable to keep a longstanding promise to repeal the law.” [Bloomberg, 10/13/17]

The American People Agree: President Trump And Congressional Republicans Are Playing Politics With People’s Health Care.  A poll conducted last September found that 61 percent of voters believed President Trump was “trying to make the Affordable Care Act fail,” and 64 percent of voters said Trump is “playing politics with people’s health care.” The poll also found that the American people seriously disapprove of how Republicans in Congress are treating health care: 80 percent of voters disapprove while only 20 percent approve. [Hart Research, 9/5/17]

ashoup
In Capitol Hill, News

Senate Republicans Go Home After Ignoring Responsibility to Stand Up for Health Care

GOP Senators Will Face Constituents Fired Up about Health Care Protections and Kavanaugh When They Head Home

Washington, D.C. – Following Senate Republicans’ decision to head home for August recess after refusing to examine Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s records and refusing to sign onto a resolution introduced by the Democratic Senators to protect health care for Americans with pre-existing conditions, Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, released the following statement:

“Shame on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and each and every Republican Senator for doing nothing to join their Democratic colleagues in standing up for the 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions from the Trump-GOP lawsuit working its way through the courts right now that could end protections they rely on and all of the other consumer protections in the Affordable Care Act.

“What’s more, Republican Senators — including Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski — are trying to hide critical information about Brett Kavanaugh’s views on health care from the American people. Like President Trump, former President George W. Bush proposed radically reshaping Medicaid by turning it into a block grant program, putting the coverage that millions of Americans rely on in jeopardy. We already know Judge Kavanaugh has criticized previous Supreme Court decisions to protect the Affordable Care Act, but we also deserve to know whether he supported President Bush’s plan to go after Medicaid.

“Senate Republicans may try to sweep their repeal-and-sabotage record under the rug when they go home, but Americans see the giant bullseye the Senate GOP has placed on our health care, and we will be raising our concerns at home.”

###

ashoup
In News, Administration

Experts Condemn Trump Move To Push Junk Short-Term Plans

This morning, the Trump Administration announced a rule that encourages consumers to ditch comprehensive health care in favor of junk short-term plans that will leave them with piles of bills and without coverage should they get sick. This announcement is just the latest attempt to undermine the Affordable Care Act, strip protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and drive up premiums. Here’s a look at what experts are saying:

Mary Dwight, Senior Vice President Of Cystic Fibrosis Foundation: Plans Will Split Market Into Plans For Healthy And Plans For Sick. “The new plans will no longer be just transition coverage. They will be an alternative to comprehensive insurance. They will split the market into plans for healthy people and plans for sick people.” [New York Times, 8/1/18]

Sabrina Corlette, Professor At Georgetown University Health Policy Institute: Short-Term Plans Are “Very Much A Buyer-Beware Situation.”  [Bloomberg, 7/31/18]

Larry Levitt, Senior Vice President of Kaiser Family Foundation: Trump Using Short-Term Plans To Create Parallel Insurance Market That Can Skirt ACA Consumer Protections. “The Trump administration cannot eliminate the ACA’s insurance rules. Instead, they are using short-term insurance plans to create a parallel market of insurance plans that do not have to follow any of the ACA’s rules.” [Levitt, 8/1/18]

Chris Hansen, President Of The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network: People With Cancer Could “Face Astronomical Costs.” “People who buy the new policies and develop cancer could ‘face astronomical costs’ and ‘may be forced to forgo treatment entirely because of costs.'” [New York Times, 8/1/18]

Georgetown Center On Health Insurance Reforms: As Bills Start To Pile Up Under Short-Term Plans, Many Folks Would Realize “They’re Not Really Insured At All.” “If you are pregnant, you will have to find another way to pay for the cost of your pre-natal care and labor and delivery (maternity care charges for a normal birth average $32,093; $51,125 for an uncomplicated C-section). If you get cancer, your plan will not cover oncology drugs, which can cost an average of $10,000 per month. If you are hospitalized, you may find yourself owing hundreds of thousands of dollars for services that are not covered by your plan.” [Georgetown Center On Health Insurance Reforms, 7/26/18]

Blue Cross Blue Blue Shield Association: “The Broader Availability And Longer Duration Of Slimmed Down Policies That Do Not Provide Comprehensive Coverage Has The Potential To Harm Consumers.” “The broader availability and longer duration of slimmed-down policies that do not provide comprehensive coverage has the potential to  harm consumers, both by making comprehensive coverage more expensive and by leaving some consumers unaware of the risks of these policies.” [Politico, 8/1/18]

Erika Sward, Assistant Vice President Of The American Lung Association Describes Rule As “One More Blow Of An Ax To Stable State Marketplaces.” [New York Times, 8/1/18]

America’s Health Insurance Plans: We Remain Concerned That Consumers Will Face HIgh Medical Bills When They Need Care That Isn’t Covered. “We remain concerned that consumers who rely on short-term plans for an extended time period will face high medical bills when they need care that isn’t covered or exceed their coverage limits.” [Alice Ollstein, Talking Points Memo, 8/1/18]

New National Association of Insurance Commissioners Report Confirms That With Short-Term Plans, A Significantly Higher Percentage Of Money Goes Toward Administrative Costs And Profits Than Care. The NAIC report reveals that the largest seller of short-term plans, UnitedHealth, has a medical loss ratio, the ratio of money that goes toward care versus administrative costs and profits, of 43.7 percent, compared to the ACA-mandated minimum of 80 percent. [NAIC, July 2018]

ashoup
In News, Administration

Trump Administration Ignores 98 Percent of Health Experts, Greenlights Junk Insurance Plans

This is the GOP’s Fifth Act of Sabotage In the Past Week Alone

Washington, D.C. – In response to the Trump Administration’s final rule bringing short-term, junk plans back to consumers, Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, released the following statement:

“Today’s announcement is nothing more than the Trump Administration’s and Republicans latest attack on our health care, taking its summer of sabotage to a new level and once again leaving Americans holding the bill. Coming on the heels of the GOP pushing forward a lawsuit to end the protections Americans depend upon under the Affordable Care Act, including those for the 130 million people with pre-existing conditions, this rule will let insurance companies with billions in profits once again take Americans’ hard-earned money while drastically limiting coverage. Short term junk plans don’t cover people with pre-existing conditions, don’t include coverage for basic medical needs like prescription drugs, and refuse to pay benefits when a legitimate medical emergency arises. The Trump Administration and its Republican allies in Congress want to give insurance companies the power to deny coverage based on the flimsiest excuse, and this rule does just that. The public knows better than to fall for this charade.”

Today’s announcement is the fifth act of sabotage the Trump Administration and its GOP allies have undertaken in the past week alone. In the past seven days:

  1. The Trump Administration and twenty GOP attorneys general and governors pushed forward their lawsuit in an attempt to strike down protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions.
  2. Not a single Republican Senator or House Member joined the Democratic resolutions authorizing the legislative chambers’ legal counsel to go to court and defend these protections.
  3. House Republicans went home after doing nothing to lower premiums or protect the 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions.
  4. New Jersey became the 25th state to see its projected premiums rise due to GOP actions. In fact, new data shows Americans will spend $3,000 more per year for marketplace coverage this year.
  5. Now, short term “junk plans could be back on the market.

Read more about this Summer of Sabotage here, and read about all the ways the Trump Administration has sabotaged health care over the past 18 months here.

ABOUT SHORT TERM JUNK PLANS:

  • 335 of 340 health groups, 98 percent of those that submitted comments to HHS, criticized the proposed rule.
  • Short-term junk plans can exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions, affecting 130 million Americans and one in four children.
  • Short-term junk plans can refuse to cover essential health benefits, including maternity care, prescription drugs, mental health care, and preventive care.
  • Short-term junk plans can impose annual and lifetime limits.
  • Short-term junk plans can leave members facing “major, unpredictable financial risk,” with out-of-pocket maximums as high as $20,000 for just three months of coverage.
  • Short-term junk plans can retroactively cancel coverage after patients file claims.

For more information on short term junk plans, view our fact sheet.

###

ashoup
In News

GOP Continues Its Court Case to Overturn Protections for People with Pre-Existing Conditions

Case Highlights #WhatsAtStake with Kavanaugh’s Nomination to Supreme Court

Case Continues In Spite of Overwhelming and Growing Opposition from the Public

Washington, D.C. – Late last night, the Trump-GOP lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA) advanced in the District Court, having been fully briefed by all parties. This means a judge could soon rule to overturn the ACA, including its protections for the 130 million Americans living with pre-existing conditions. Twenty Republican state attorneys general and governors and the Trump Administration press on with this case, Texas v. HHS, despite overwhelming opposition from the public at large, as well as state and national health care experts.      

“What the Republicans told the court is exceptional: They have doubled down on their request for a preliminary injunction invalidating the entire Affordable Care Act, and all protections and regulations related to it. This case is now one step further on its way to its likely ultimate destination: the Supreme Court. The overwhelming majority of Americans are strongly opposed to this outrageous lawsuit, but there’s one individual whose opinion matters more than all of ours right now: Brett Kavanaugh, who has already criticized previous Supreme Court decisions to protect the Affordable Care Act, and whose confirmation to the Supreme Court could mean the end of the health care protections hundreds millions of Americans rely on. A vote for Brett Kavanaugh is a vote to take away America’s health care. Americans from coast to coast will continue to raise their voices and and urge their Senators to stand up against this nomination,” said Leslie Dach, chair of Protect Our Care.

Texas v. HHS Case Background

The dangerous lawsuit filed by 20 Republican state officials in February and joined by the Trump administration in June threatens care and coverage for tens of millions of Americans and would eliminate vital protections that benefit everyone. At risk:

  • Protections for 130 million people with pre-existing conditions when they buy coverage on their own
  • Improvements to Medicare, including reduced costs for prescription drugs
  • Allowing kids to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26
  • Ban on annual and lifetime limits
  • Ban on insurance discrimination against women
  • Limit on out-of-pocket costs
  • Medicaid expansion currently covering 15 million people
  • Rules to hold insurance companies accountable
  • Small business tax credits
  • Marketplace tax credits and coverage for 10 million people

The Trump-GOP Lawsuit Continues Over Overwhelming Opposition from the Public

  • 94 Percent Of Voters Want Supreme Court To Protect Pre-Existing Conditions. A new poll released this week from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund was released found that 94 percent of voters want the Supreme Court to uphold protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
  • 64 Percent Of Voters Don’t Want Supreme Court To Overturn Protections For People With Pre-Existing Conditions. Kaiser’s July tracking poll found that 64 percent of voters do not want the Supreme Court to overturn protections for people with pre-existing conditions, including 71 percent of Independents.
  • Two-Thirds Of Voters Disapprove Of Trump Justice Department’s Actions To Overturn Protections For People With Pre-Existing Conditions. When asked in a Hart Research poll about the Trump Justice Department’s decision to take to court to argue against protections for people with pre-existing conditions, two-thirds of voters voiced their disapproval.

The Trump-GOP  Lawsuit Continues Over Opposition from Local Health Care Advocates

  • In Alaska, on behalf of the 326,000 Alaskans with pre-existing conditions, State Senators Berta Gardner, Ivy Spohnholz, Bill Wielechowski, Scott Kawasaki, Dennis Egan, Harriet Drummond, and Tom Begich sent a letter to Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth, asking her to drop Alaska from the lawsuit and defend the protections for the Alaskans who depend on them.
  • In Arizona, on behalf of the 2.8 million Arizonans with pre-existing conditions, Rep. Ruben Gallego signed a letter to Attorney General Mark Brnovich, urging him to immediately withdraw Arizona from the lawsuit and instead work to ensure that Arizonans are able to obtain affordable, comprehensive coverage.
  • In Indiana, on behalf of the 2.7 million Hoosiers with pre-existing conditions, health care advocates from across the state delivered letters and a petition to Attorney General Curtis Hill, urging him to remove drop Indiana from the lawsuit and instead work to protect the millions of Hoosiers with pre-existing conditions. “Indiana doesn’t have to – and shouldn’t be – part of this shameful sabotage. The lives of Hoosiers are at stake,” said Protect Our Care Indiana Spokeswoman Kate Shepherd.
  • In Maine, on behalf of the 548,000 Mainers with pre-existing conditions, Protect Our Care Maine, National Alliance on Mental Illness Maine, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, the Maine Women’s Lobby and other organizations signed a letter urging Gov. Paul LePage to remove himself from the lawsuit and instead start working to protect Mainers’ care.
  • In Nevada, on behalf of the 1.2 million Nevadans with pre-existing conditions, more than thirty elected officials, including state senators, assemblymembers, Clark County commissioners, and city council members from Las Vegas, Henderson City, North Las Vegas, and Reno signed a letter to Attorney General Adam Laxalt, urging him to drop Nevada from the lawsuit and instead work to protect  the Nevadans who depend on the care these protections provide.
  • In North Dakota, on behalf of the 316,000 North Dakotans with pre-existing conditions, protesters protested Vice President Mike Pence and s Attorney General Wayne Stenjam’s backing of the GOP lawsuit seeking to overturn benefits for North Dakotans with pre-existing conditions.
  • In Ohio, on behalf of the 4.8 million Ohioans with pre-existing conditions, 25 elected officials from across the state, including Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, the Columbus City Council, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, and the Dayton City Commission, including Mayor Nan Whaley, signed letters asking Attorney General Mike DeWine to drop Ohio from the lawsuit and instead support the protections for Ohioans.
  • In Tennessee, on behalf of the 2.7 million Tennesseans with pre-existing conditions, more than 900 Tennesseans signed a letter to Attorney General General Herbert Slatery III calling on him to drop Tennessee from the lawsuit and instead work to support the Tennesseans who depend on these protections for pre-existing conditions.
  • In West Virginia, on behalf of the 738,000 West Virginians with pre-existing conditions, 23 groups, including West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, and the West Virginia AFL-CIO, signed a letter to Attorney General Patrick Morrisey  and Governor Jim Justice, calling on them to drop West Virginia from the lawsuit and instead work to support the hundreds of thousands of West Virginians with pre-existing conditions.

The Trump-GOP Lawsuit  Continues Over Opposition from Health Care Providers and Experts

  • American Cancer Society, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American DIabetes Association, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and National Multiple Sclerosis Society: “Striking Down These Provisions Would Be Catastrophic And Have Dire Consequences For Many Patients With Serious Illnesses.” Invalidating the ACA in whole or in part “would be devastating for the millions of Americans who suffer from serious illness or have preexisting conditions and rely on those protections under current law to obtain life-saving health care. If either the plaintiffs’ or the administration’s position were adopted by the court, people with serious illness are likely to be denied coverage due to their preexisting conditions or charged such high premiums because of their health status that they will be unable to afford any coverage that may be offered. Without access to comprehensive coverage, patients will be forced to delay, skip, or forego care. Striking down these provisions would be catastrophic and have dire consequences for many patients with serious illnesses.” [American Cancer Society et. al, 6/14/18]
  • American Medical Association, The American Academy of Family Physicians, The American College of Physicians, The American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: “​Invalidating The Guaranteed-issue And Community Rating Provisions—or The ​entire A​CA—would Have A Devastating Impact On Doctors, Patients, And The American Health Care System As A Whole.” “Congress declined to do what the Plaintiffs ask this Court to do for a reason: the consequences of repealing the ACA would be staggering…Plaintiffs’ proposed remedies . . . would strip health care from tens of millions of Americans who depend on the ACA; produce skyrocketing insurance costs; and sow chaos in the nation’s health care system​…The ACA’s ‘nationwide protections for Americans with pre-existing health conditions’ has played a ‘key role’ in allowing 3.6 million people to obtain affordable health insurance. Severing those vital insurance reforms would leave millions without much-needed insurance.” [AMA et. al, 6/14/18]
  • American Hospital Association, Federation of American Hospitals, The Catholic Health Association of the United States, and Association of American Medical Colleges: “A judicial repeal would have severe consequences for America’s hospitals, which would be forced to shoulder the greater uncompensated-care burden that the ACA’s repeal would create.” The relief sought by Texas and its allies “would have devastating consequences, kicking millions of Americans off of coverage and inflicting on them all the harms that come with being uninsured. These harms would fall on the low-income families least able to cope with them. ​And a judicial repeal would have severe consequences for America’s hospitals, which would be forced to shoulder the greater uncompensated-care burden that the ACA’s repeal would create.” [American Hospital Association et. al, 6/14/18]
  • Public Health Scholars and the American Public Health Association: “The Foreseeable Public Health Consequences Of The Injunction Are Nothing Short of Catastrophic.” “Without the ACA, the health of millions of Americans would be harmed. Consider the grim analyses of proposed legislation partially repealing the ACA: In 2017, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (“CBO”) assessed the impact of a bill partially repealing the ACA and found (among other things) that it would, in “the first new plan year following enactment of the bill” alone, increase the number of uninsured Americans by 18 million. That number would grow to 27 million after the “year following the elimination of the Medicaid expansion,” and then to 32 million by 2026. Still more is at stake here: Unlike the injunctive relief plaintiffs seek, the bill analyzed by CBO would have staggered its partial repeal of the ACA to avoid catastrophic results. Here, plaintiffs ask the Court to eliminate, as preliminary injunctive relief, a complex statute in its eighth year of implementation—a statute whose repeal through democratic means has been attempted innumerable times but has never succeeded.” [Public Health Scholars et. al, 6/14/18]
  • AARP: Before ACA’s Protections, Discrimination Against Those With Pre-Existing Conditions, Age Rating, And Annual And Lifetime Caps Made Accessing Health Care Out Of Reach For Older Adults. “Uninsured pre-Medicare adults faced nearly insurmountable challenges to securing insurance because they were denied coverage based on preexisting conditions or offered costly policies that excluded coverage for needed care. Even without preexisting conditions, insurance premiums for older adults were as much as 11 times greater than their younger counterparts solely based on their age. Even a healthy person who was age 50 to 64 with no preexisting conditions faced markedly higher insurance premium rates than a younger person. Age rating put the cost of insurance out of reach for many pre-Medicare adults. Annual and lifetime caps—which were easily exceeded by treatment for a single illness such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes—meant that many older adults either went without treatment until they became eligible for Medicare or incurred financially ruinous medical debt.” [AARP, 6/14/18]

 

 

 

ashoup
In News, Administration, Capitol Hill

Five Ways the Trump Administration is Dismantling Medicaid and Medicare

Today marks the 53rd anniversary of Medicaid and Medicare, two crucial health programs that serve as a lifeline to more than one-third of Americans. Despite the essential health care services these programs provide 125 million people, President Trump and Congressional Republicans have worked to dismantle Medicaid and Medicare. Here’s how:

  1. As the cost of drugs skyrocket, President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress will not allow Medicare to negotiate for better prescription drug prices. Under current law, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is explicitly prohibited from negotiating directly with drug manufacturers on behalf of Medicare Part D enrollees. Although it would decrease both federal spending and beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, a policy allowing the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries was noticeably absent from President Trump’s recent prescription drug announcement.

  2. President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have repeatedly tried to slash funding for Medicaid and impose per-capita caps on coverage. Last year, the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA) repeal bill, which included a per capita limit on federal Medicaid spending that would have resulted in huge cuts to Medicaid across states. After failing to pass the AHCA in the Senate, Republicans have continued to launch relentless attacks on Medicaid. Last December, the Trump Administration budget called for $1.4 trillion in cuts to Medicaid.

  3. The Trump Administration is encouraging states to impose work requirements and other bureaucratic restrictions on Medicaid enrollment in order to deny coverage. Experts warn that work requirements are fundamentally bureaucratic hurdles designed to restrict access to health care rather than increase employment. Previous examples show that requiring enrollees verify their employment or work-related activities will reduce enrollment among those eligible for Medicaid.

    Requiring people to work to maintain Medicaid coverage is particularly burdensome for older adults. Less than half of American adults ages 55 to 64 work. Some are retired, and for many others, chronic health conditions make it difficult to maintain steady employment.

  4. President Trump and Congressional Republicans are targeting Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest. Last December, President Trump signed a $1.5 trillion tax bill that disproportionately benefits the wealthy. How do Republicans plan on paying for it? Speaker Ryan’s answer is clear: “Frankly, it’s the health care entitlements that are the big drivers of our debt.” In an attempt to pay for these tax cuts, in April, House Republicans passed a budget amendment that would slash Medicaid funding by $114 billion in a single year alone.

  5. Congressional Republicans have also repeatedly voted to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest by cutting funding for Medicare. The 2018 budget resolution passed by Republicans in December 2017 cut Medicare by $473 billion and more recently, the FY2019 budget passed by Republicans on the House Budget Committee cuts Medicare by an additional $537 billion.

As we celebrate this important health care anniversary, Protect Our Care calls on our leaders to protect health care for our most vulnerable and end their assault on the health and wellbeing of the millions of Americans who rely on Medicare and Medicaid.

###

ashoup
In News, Administration

NEW POLL: Overwhelming Majority of Americans Support Protections for People With Pre-Existing Conditions

Washington, D.C – This morning, a new poll was released which found that 94 percent of Americans want the Supreme Court to uphold protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, released the following statement in response:

“More than nine in 10 Americans want the Supreme Court to stay away from Republican efforts to dismantle protections for people with pre-existing conditions, a finding that comes on the heels of last week’s Kaiser poll showing that upholding these protections is the top health care issue for voters. So when the Trump Administration teams up with Republican state attorneys general and governors to overturn protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and then nominates someone to the Supreme Court to side with them in that case, not only are they actively working against the interests of the 130 million Americans who live with pre-existing conditions, they are ignoring the clear and resounding wishes of the American people.”

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

July 2018 –  Kaiser Family Foundation’s July Tracking Poll Confirms That Protections For People With Pre-Existing Conditions Are The Most Important Health Care Issue To Voters.

  • A Candidate’s Position On Continuing Protections For People With Pre-Existing Health Conditions Is The Top Health Care Campaign Issue For Voters, Among A List Of Issues Provided. “This issue cuts across voter demographics with most Democratic voters (74 percent), independent voters (64 percent), and voters living in battleground areas (61 percent), as well as half of Republican voters (49 percent) saying a candidate’s position on continued protections for pre-existing health conditions is either the single most important factor or a very important factor in their 2018 vote.”
  • Nearly Two Thirds Of Those Polled Do Not Want Supreme Court To Overturn Protections For People With Pre-existing Conditions. “Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn these protections compared to half (52 percent) who do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA) more generally.”
  • Almost Six In Ten Americans Say They Think President Trump And His Administration Are Trying To Make The ACA Fail. “Almost six in ten (56 percent) Americans say they think President Trump and his administration are trying to make the ACA fail while one-third (32 percent) say they are trying to make the law work. Most of those who say they think the Trump administration is trying to make the law fail think this is a “bad thing” (47 percent of the public). In addition, most (58 percent) say since President Trump and Republicans in Congress have made changes to the ACA, they are responsible for any problems with it moving forward.”

June 2018 – Kaiser Tracking Poll Also Found That That ACA Protections For Sick Patients Still Overwhelmingly Popular Despite GOP’s Efforts To End Them. Key findings:

  • Health Care Is Top Issue For Voters. 25 percent of voters cited health care as the most important issue to them, compared to the next highest earner, the economy and jobs, which 23 percent of voters said was the most important issue. In total, 79 percent of voters considered health care to be the most important or a very important issue.
  • Candidates’ Continued Support For Protections For People With Pre-Existing Conditions Is The Single Most Important Health Position For Voters. 14 percent of voters said cited protections for people with pre-existing conditions as the most important factor. 66 percent of voters said it was very important, if not the most important, health care issue to them.
  • Nearly Three Quarters Of Those Polled Said It Was “Very Important” That ACA Provisions Protecting Those With Pre-Existing Conditions Remain Law. 76 percent of voters said it was very important to keep the provision of the ACA that prevents insurance companies from denying coverage because of a person’s medical history. 72 percent of voters said it was very important to preserve the ACA’s protection against charging sick people more. Majorities of all parties support these protections.
  • Nearly Six In Ten Say Someone In Their Household Has A Pre-Existing Condition. “Nearly six in ten (57 percent) say they or someone in their household suffers from pre-existing medical conditions such asthma, diabetes, or high blood pressure.”
  • Half Of The Public Continues To Have A Favorable View Of The Affordable Care Act. “Half of the public continue to hold favorable views of the 2010 health care law, known as the Affordable Care Act. This continues the more than a year-long trend of a larger share of the public viewing the law favorably (50 percent) than unfavorably (41 percent).

June 2018 – Hart Research Poll Finds That 66 Percent Of Voters Disapprove Of Trump Justice Department’s Actions To Overturn Protections For People With Pre-Existing Conditions. When asked about the Trump Justice Department’s decision to take to court to argue against protections for people with pre-existing conditions, voters polled by Hart Research disapproved by 66 to 34 percent.

ashoup
In News

One Year After Repeal Defeat, We’re 100 Days from Election Day and Health Care is Still #1

Health Care is Top Issue to Voters, Due to Opposition to GOP Sabotage

Coalition that Defeated Repeal One Year Ago Will #RememberInNovember

Washington, D.C. – One year ago today, the American people made possible what many said was impossible: they defeated the number one legislative priority of Republicans and President Trump dating back seven years, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Now, 100 days from Election Day, health care is still the issue that matters most to voters.

“Here we are, 100 short days from Election Day, and Americans are as strongly opposed Republicans’ attacks on our health care today as they were one year ago. Nevertheless, Republicans are carrying on their repeal-and-sabotage crusade, no matter the consequences for the American people — let alone their own political prospects. Now begins the time Americans work to hold their representatives accountable for the sabotage that’s raising our health care costs and cutting health care for millions,” said Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care.  

This week, Protect Our Care coalitions held events around the country throughout the week to commemorate the hard work that defeated ACA repeal:

In Arizona, health care advocates gathered at Senator John McCain’s office to commemorate the anniversary of his historic “thumbs down” vote against repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

…to highlight #WhatsAtStake for our health if Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court:

In Alaska, concerned residents with pre-existing conditions and a faith leader visited Senator Lisa Murkowski’s office to thank her for her vote one year ago to protect their care and urge her to stand up to protect Alaskans’ care again when considering Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

In Maine, health care advocates and residents with pre-existing conditions held a press conference outside the state capitol in Augusta to celebrate the ACA repeal failure one year ago and encourage Senator Susan Collins, who cast one of the consequential votes that helped kill repeal last year, to continue protecting access to affordable health care for all Mainers when considering Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court.

In Nevada, health care advocates held a press conference to sound the alarm about the extensive campaign the Trump Administration has undertaken to sabotage healthcare, including the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

In Pennsylvania, health care advocates joined local residents with pre-existing conditions at a roundtable discussion about how the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court could harm the 5.3 million Pennsylvanians with pre-existing conditions.

In Washington, DC, health care advocates and people with pre-existing conditions were joined by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, Debbie Stabenow and Chris Murphy at a press conference to highlight the threat Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination poses to health care, especially for the 130 million Americans living with pre-existing conditions.   

In West Virginia, health care advocates were joined by people with pre-existing conditions at a press conference highlighting ongoing health care sabotage and the threat that Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Court poses for West Virginians.

In Wisconsin, health care advocates and people with pre-existing conditions held a press conference to highlight ongoing health care sabotage and the danger Brett Kavanaugh would pose for Wisconsinites.

… to call on state attorneys general and the Trump Administration to drop their lawsuit to overturn protections in the ACA for women, seniors and people with pre-existing conditions:

Outside Vice President Mike Pence’s closed appearances in North Dakota, health care advocates demonstrated in opposition to the Trump administration and Attorney General Wayne Stenjam’s lawsuit seeking to overturning the Affordable Care Act, as well as Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

In Tennessee, health care advocates and people with pre-existing conditions delivered an open letter to TN Attorney General Herbert Slatery signed by hundreds of Tennesseans, demanding that he drop the lawsuit against the ACA and instead work to protect the care of over 2.7 million Tennesseans with pre-existing condition.

In Indiana, a petition signed by more than 600 Hoosiers asked Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill to withdraw from the federal lawsuit, Texas vs. HHS, which  could dismantle the consumer protections in the Affordable Care Act. Health care advocates held a press conference as they hand-delivered the petition to Attorney General Hill yesterday.

In Missouri, health care advocates held a press conference to spotlight the threat Attorney General Josh Hawley’s lawsuit to overturn health protections in the ACA poses for Missourians, as well as the dangers of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Court.  

…and to be sure that voters will #RememberinNovember:

In Ohio, health care experts and advocates hosted a community forum at the Lima Public Library to discuss what’s at stake for Ohioans’ health care in this year’s midterm election, the importance of protecting the Affordable Care Act and Ohio’s Medicaid expansion, and how the health care law has helped Ohio communities.

ashoup
In News, Administration

Why New Jerseyans’ Insurance Is Getting Even More Expensive: The Trump Administration and Washington Republicans Keep Sabotaging Health Care

Washington, D.C. – As preliminary New Jersey rate filings for 2019 individual-market health insurance indicated a potential near-double-digit average premium increase due to Washington Republicans’ repeal-and-sabotage agenda, Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“For the past year and a half, President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have engaged in a deliberate, aggressive campaign to undermine health care and now families in New Jersey are being asked to pay the price. While insurance companies make huge profits and enjoy record tax breaks from Republicans, they are planning to charge working families even more. Until we stop Republicans’ war on health care, health care experts predict that rates will keep rising by double digits. Washington Republicans should start working on bipartisan solutions to make coverage more affordable, instead of helping their friends in the insurance industry make another buck on the backs of hardworking New Jerseyans.”

From the Insurance Commissioner and Insurance Companies:

Department Of Banking And Insurance: “Policies In Washington Aimed Aimed At Dismantling The Affordable Care Act Have Created Enormous Uncertainty In Insurance Markets Nationwide.” “Policies in Washington aimed at dismantling the Affordable Care Act have created enormous uncertainty in insurance markets nationwide. The repeal of the individual mandate as part of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has led to requested rate increases in states across the country. The federal government has also advanced rules to permit the sale of short-term limited duration plans and association health plans that do not comply with the ACA, stalled Risk Adjustment Payments to carriers and slashed funding for health care navigators that assist consumers with enrolling in coverage.” [State of New Jersey Department of Banking & Insurance, 7/27]

Department Of Banking And Insurance Commissioner Marlene Caride: Without State Actions Undertaken To Blunt GOP Sabotage, Rates Would Have Been Even Higher. “Carriers indicated that without the recent enactment of the law to continue an individual mandate in New Jersey, the average requested rate increase would have been 12.6 percent… ‘New Jersey is working aggressively to ensure that residents have access to affordable quality coverage, and actions taken by the state to improve the market are reflected in the rates submitted. Under the leadership of Governor Murphy, New Jersey is leading the nation in its efforts to create stability in the market and to combat the uncertainty created by Washington. Carriers were clear that without state action, the average increase requested in the individual market would have more than doubled,’ said Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Marlene Caride.” [State of New Jersey Department of Banking & Insurance, 7/27]

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield: Rate Increases Will Be As High As 9.8 Percent. “The requests from four insurers ranged from 0.8 percent for one of AmeriHealth of New Jersey’s plans to 9.8 percent for one offered by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. Two insurers, Oscar and Oxford, are not active in southern New Jersey.” [Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/27]

Why New Jerseyans’ Insurance Is Getting Even More Expensive: The Trump Administration and Washington Republicans Keep Sabotaging Health Care

While spending most of last year trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and waging a war on our health care, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have also used their control of Washington to actively undermine the Health Insurance Marketplaces every chance they get – leading insurance companies to raise premiums for 2018 and 2019 and, in some cases, forcing them out of the individual market altogether. Washington Republicans’ goal is simple: sabotage and undermine the Affordable Care Act, then blame everyone but themselves for the consequences of their actions. President Trump keeps rooting for disaster, saying that “The best thing we can do…is let Obamacare explode” and “Let it be a disaster because we can blame that on the Democrats.”

Now, initial rate filings in New Jersey forecast near-double-digit rate hikes again this fall because of Republican sabotage.

Republicans never ended their war on our health care. After Congress failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Trump Administration is aggressively sabotaging our health care system and refusing to work to make coverage better and more affordable.

  • Experts from AARP, the Congressional Budget Office, and a wide range of other nonpartisan organizations agree that Republican actions are forcing up health care costs.
  • Republicans in Congress are supporting the Administration’s many actions to undermine health care, despite widespread opposition from patient and disease groups, doctors, nurses, hospitals, plus health care and consumer advocates.
  • The Trump Administration officials keep rewriting the rules to let big insurance companies cover fewer and fewer services while charging people more and more. The sabotage doesn’t stop there: last year the Administration fired many of the community assisters who help people enroll in health care; this year they are planning more enrollment cuts, making it even harder to sign up for coverage.
  • And now, Republicans are encouraging insurance companies to sell more junk plans that don’t have to cover basic care like hospitalization and prescription drugs, and that are allowed to charge people with pre-existing conditions more or even deny them coverage altogether.

This could have been avoided: if Republicans had stopped sabotaging health care, American families wouldn’t be facing another huge increase this fall.

  • Even the Trump Administration has admitted that the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces had been stabilizing prior to them coming into office.
  • The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had predicted only modest rate increases if Republicans hadn’t sabotaged the markets.
  • Even Senate Republicans admitted this fall’s upcoming rate hikes were “avoidable,” but then they torched bipartisan stabilization talks at the last minute, prioritizing partisan politics over their last opportunity to help American families afford health care next year.

The Trump Administration’s sabotage will punish Americans by jacking up premiums again, compounding the damage done last year, when Republican sabotage pushed rates up by a national average of 37 percent, and 18 percent in New Jersey.

  • The Republican tax bill’s repeal of a key Affordable Care Act provision and the Trump Administration’s junk plan proposal will increase individual market premiums in New Jersey by an average 10.9 percent this fall, according to a recent Urban Institute study.
  • This sabotage-driven rate hike will make the damage Republicans inflicted last year through repeal attempts and sabotage even worse.
  • Higher premiums will mean fewer working families can afford coverage: during the first year of the Trump Administration, millions more Americans joined the ranks of the uninsured – the highest increase since Gallup started tracking the uninsured rate.

Despite Republican sabotage, the Affordable Care Act has improved New Jerseyans’ care.

  • 274,782 New Jerseyans signed up for Marketplace coverage this year.
  • Thanks to the Marketplace and Medicaid expansion, New Jersey’s uninsured rate fell by 4.4 percent between 2013 and 2016 as New Jerseyans have gained access to affordable coverage.
  • Before today’s announcement, the Urban Institute predicted that New Jersey premiums for 2019 could rise 10.9 percent more because of the Trump Administration’s junk plan proposal and the Republican tax bill’s repeal of a key Affordable Care Act coverage incentive.
  • Even despite sabotage, Affordable Care Act subsidies help keep coverage affordable for 77 percent of New Jersey Marketplace consumers, whose average 2018 premium is $157 per month.
  • But because of the Republican sabotage agenda, many middle-income New Jerseyans could pay hundreds or thousands of dollars more than they would have otherwise.

New Jerseyans won’t forget that Republicans and the Trump Administration keep forcing up health care costs to score political points.

 

  • Health care costs are a top issue in nearly every major issue-ranked poll in 2018.
  • Voters overwhelmingly trust Democrats over Republicans on health care costs.
  • In poll after poll, voters resoundingly reject President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ repeal-and-sabotage campaign against the Affordable Care Act.

 

 

KEY QUOTES

America’s Health Insurance Plans: Trump Administration’s DOJ Decision Would “Cause Rates To Go Even Higher For Older Americans And Sicker Patients.” “Zeroing out the individual mandate penalty should not result in striking important consumer protections, such as guaranteed issue and community rating rules that help those with pre-existing conditions. Removing those provisions will result in renewed uncertainty in the individual market, create a patchwork of requirements in the states, cause rates to go even higher for older Americans and sicker patients, and make it challenging to introduce products and rates for 2019. Instead, we should focus on advancing proven solutions that ensure affordability for all consumers. [AHIP, 6/8/18]

Associated Press: Administration’s Decision Could “Nudge Premiums Even Higher.” “The Trump administration’s decision to stop defending in court the Obama health law’s popular protections for consumers with pre-existing conditions could prove risky for Republicans in the midterm elections — and nudge premiums even higher.” [CNBC, 6/8/18]

Timothy Jost, Washington & Lee University Law Professor: Administration’s Decision Could Leave Millions Of Americans Facing “Denial Of Coverage Or Higher Premiums.” “Yesterday, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice dropped a bombshell in a rural Texas federal courthouse. The administration stated in a court filing (and also in letters to Congressional leaders) that it would not defend three key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). If the judge in the case agrees, millions of Americans with preexisting conditions could face denial of coverage or higher premiums.” [Commonwealth Fund, 6/8/18]

Ceci Connolly, Alliance Of Community Health Plans: Administration’s Decision Decision Could Spark Fresh Market Instability. “Ceci Connolly, president of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, called the legal position ‘troubling’ and warned it could spark fresh market instability. ‘At the very least it adds uncertainty at exactly the moment when plans are trying to set rates for next year,’ Connolly said in a statement. ‘At the worst, it could strip away guaranteed coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. We don’t want to return to the days when people who needed the care the most could be turned away because of their health status.’” [Modern Healthcare, 6/8/18]

Fortune: If Administration’s Decision Is Implemented, “There’s A Strong Change Insurers Would Begin Charging Sicker People Significantly More.” “To date, many low-income people have been shielded from those increases since federal subsidies to help pay premiums rise in tandem with the spikes. Middle-class families who don’t qualify for the subsidies are left either swallowing the higher premiums or forgoing coverage. If the protections for people with pre-existing conditions are ultimately shot down, there’s a strong chance insurers would begin charging sicker people significantly more for their coverage while younger and healthier Americans would see lower prices.” [Fortune, 6/11/18]

America’s Health Insurance Plans: Administration’s DOJ Decision Would “Cause Rates To Go Even Higher For Older Americans And Sicker Patients.” “Zeroing out the individual mandate penalty should not result in striking important consumer protections, such as guaranteed issue and community rating rules that help those with pre-existing conditions. Removing those provisions will result in renewed uncertainty in the individual market, create a patchwork of requirements in the states, cause rates to go even higher for older Americans and sicker patients, and make it challenging to introduce products and rates for 2019. Instead, we should focus on advancing proven solutions that ensure affordability for all consumers. [AHIP, 6/8/18]

Associated Press: Administration’s Decision Could “Nudge Premiums Even Higher.” “The Trump administration’s decision to stop defending in court the Obama health law’s popular protections for consumers with pre-existing conditions could prove risky for Republicans in the midterm elections — and nudge premiums even higher.” [CNBC, 6/8/18]

Timothy Jost, Washington & Lee University Law Professor: Administration’s Decision Could Leave Millions Of Americans Facing “Denial Of Coverage Or Higher Premiums.” “Yesterday, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice dropped a bombshell in a rural Texas federal courthouse. The administration stated in a court filing (and also in letters to Congressional leaders) that it would not defend three key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). If the judge in the case agrees, millions of Americans with preexisting conditions could face denial of coverage or higher premiums.” [Commonwealth Fund, 6/8/18]

Ceci Connolly, Alliance Of Community Health Plans: Administration’s Decision Decision Could Spark Fresh Market Instability. “Ceci Connolly, president of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, called the legal position ‘troubling’ and warned it could spark fresh market instability. ‘At the very least it adds uncertainty at exactly the moment when plans are trying to set rates for next year,’ Connolly said in a statement. ‘At the worst, it could strip away guaranteed coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. We don’t want to return to the days when people who needed the care the most could be turned away because of their health status.’” [Modern Healthcare, 6/8/18]

Fortune: If Administration’s Decision Is Implemented, “There’s A Strong Change Insurers Would Begin Charging Sicker People Significantly More.” “To date, many low-income people have been shielded from those increases since federal subsidies to help pay premiums rise in tandem with the spikes. Middle-class families who don’t qualify for the subsidies are left either swallowing the higher premiums or forgoing coverage. If the protections for people with pre-existing conditions are ultimately shot down, there’s a strong chance insurers would begin charging sicker people significantly more for their coverage while younger and healthier Americans would see lower prices.” [Fortune, 6/11/18]

Former HHS Secretary Tom Price: GOP Actions Responsible For Premium Increases. “President Trump’s former top health official on Tuesday said the Republican tax law would raise the cost of health insurance for some Americans because it repealed a core provision of the Affordable Care Act. Tom Price, Trump’s first secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said people buying insurance on government-run marketplaces will face higher prices because the tax law repealed the ACA’s individual mandate. The mandate had forced most Americans to have health coverage or face a financial penalty. ‘There are many, and I’m one of them, who believes that that actually will harm the pool in the exchange market, because you’ll likely have individuals who are younger and healthier not participating in that market, and consequently that drives up the cost for other folks within that market,’ Price said at the World Health Care Conference in Washington.” [Washington Post, 5/1/18]

America’s Health Insurance Plans: Republican Sabotage Will “Drive Up The Rate Of Premium Increases.” “Policies that disproportionately draw healthy consumers away from the individual market, like expanding access to short-term plans, will likely have an even more devastating effect on affordability, choice and competition. This will further result in adverse selection, drive up the rate of premium increases, and exacerbate affordability issues for many other people.” [America’s Health Insurance Plans Letter to HHS, 4/20/18]

Cynthia Cox, Kaiser Family Foundation: “In The Absence Of Efforts To Undermine The Market, We Would Be Seeing A Period Of Relatively Small Premium Increases.” “‘In the absence of efforts to undermine the market, we would be seeing a period of relatively small premium increases, driven mostly by the underlying growth in health care costs,’ said Cynthia Cox, the lead author of the Kaiser Family Foundation report. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re in for another year of double-digit premium increases. And if that does happen, it would be in large part due to policy changes that are happening.’” [Huffington Post, 5/18/18]

Kris Haltmeyer, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Vice President: “With The Repeal Of The Individual Mandate And The Failure Of Congress To Enact Stabilization Legislation, We Are Expecting Premiums To Go Up Substantially.” Kris Haltmeyer, a vice president at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, told reporters that the premium increases were in part due to the repeal of ObamaCare’s individual mandate in the Republican tax reform bill in December. He also cited lawmakers’ failure to pass a bill aimed at shoring up the market, which fell apart earlier this year amid a partisan dispute over abortion restrictions. ‘With the repeal of the individual mandate and the failure of Congress to enact stabilization legislation, we are expecting premiums to go up substantially,’ Haltmeyer said. He estimated that average premium increases nationwide will be in the ‘low teens,’ but that there will be major variation across areas, ranging from the low single digits to up to 70 or 80 percent.” [The Hill, 5/23]

New York Times Editorial Board: “The Administration’s Health Care Sabotage Efforts Have Already Had A Big Impact”: A 30-Percent Premium Increase. “The administration’s health care sabotage efforts have already had a big impact — but not the kind of impact officials promised. Insurance companies raised average premiums for 2018 A.C.A. policies by 30 percent. This has mostly hurt middle-class families who have to pay full freight for health insurance because they make too much money to qualify for subsidies and don’t get coverage through their employer. Few experts were surprised when the Commonwealth Fund found that the percentage of American adults who did not have health insurance jumped to 15.5 percent this year, from 12.7 percent before Mr. Trump took office. Experts say those numbers could climb higher still when the penalty for not having insurance goes away next year.” [NYT, 5/3/18]

Commonwealth Fund: Rollback Of Health Insurance Gains Spurred By “Actions By The Current Administration.” “The marked gains in health insurance coverage made since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 are beginning to reverse, according to new findings from the latest Commonwealth Fund ACA Tracking Survey. The coverage declines are likely the result of two major factors: 1) lack of federal legislative actions to improve specific weaknesses in the ACA and 2) actions by the current administration that have exacerbated those weaknesses. These include the administration’s deep cuts in advertising and outreach during the marketplace open-enrollment periods, a shorter open enrollment period, and other actions that collectively may have left people with a general sense of confusion about the status of the law. Signs point to further erosion of insurance coverage in 2019: the repeal of the individual mandate penalty included in the 2017 tax law, recent actions to increase the availability of insurance policies that don’t comply with ACA minimum benefit standards, and support for Medicaid work requirements.” [Commonwealth Fund, 5/1/18]

Center For American Progress: “Combined, The Recent Tax Law’s Repeal Of The Individual Mandate And The Administration’s Short-Term Plan Rule Will Undermine The Individual Insurance Market And Increase Premiums For ACA-Compliant Coverage.” “Last year, as part of the tax law, Congress eliminated the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate penalty. Given the mandate’s important role in encouraging healthier people to enroll in the marketplaces, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that, in 2019, this will increase average premiums in the individual market by 10 percent. Furthermore, in February 2018, the Trump administration proposed a rule to expand short-term health insurance plans… Along with the repeal of the individual mandate penalty, this expansion of short-term plans will drive up average premiums for ACA-compliant coverage in the individual market. Recent preliminary rate filings in Virginia demonstrate that these actions are contributing to significant premium increases for marketplace coverage in 2019. In fact, some Virginia insurers specifically cited the individual mandate repeal and short-term plan rule as major factors in their rate filings… Combined, the recent tax law’s repeal of the individual mandate and the administration’s short-term plan rule will undermine the individual insurance market and increase premiums for ACA-compliant coverage.” [CAP, 5/18]

New York Times: “Rather Than Trying To Eliminate Obamacare In One Fell Swoop, [Republicans Are] Trying To Undermine It With Multiple Acts Of Sabotage – While Hoping Voters Won’t Realize Who’s Responsible For Rising Premiums And Falling Coverage.” “At the beginning of 2017, Republicans promised to release the kraken on Obamacare — to destroy the program with one devastating blow. But a funny thing happened: Voters realized that repealing the Affordable Care Act would mean taking health insurance away from tens of millions of Americans. They didn’t like that prospect — and enough Republicans balked at the backlash that Obamacare repeal fizzled. But Republicans still hate the idea of helping Americans get health care. So instead of releasing the kraken, they’ve brought on the termites. Rather than trying to eliminate Obamacare in one fell swoop, they’re trying to undermine it with multiple acts of sabotage — while hoping voters won’t realize who’s responsible for rising premiums and falling coverage.” [NYT, 5/8/18]

Washington Post Editorial Board: “The Numbers Suggest That [The ACA’s] Critics’ Sabotage Efforts Are To Blame. “The effects of the president’s underinformed instincts, enabled by the ideologues in his administration, are beginning to show up in some of the numbers, representing real pain that Americans are suffering for Mr. Trump’s deficient leadership… Obamacare critics regularly describe all problems as the inevitable result of a poorly designed law. But the numbers suggest that the critics’ sabotage efforts are to blame. After impressive declines during President Barack Obama’s second term, the fund found that the uninsured rate increased in both of the years Mr. Trump has been in office. During the campaign, Mr. Trump regularly complained that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) left too many Americans uncovered. The result of nearly a year and a half of Mr. Trump’s leadership is 4 million people added to that group.” [Washington Post, 5/8/18]

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey: 2018 Premium Increase Was Due To Federal Policy. “Three factors connected to federal policy decisions are responsible for 14.7% of the 24.3% total average individual premium increase: Weakened enforcement of the Individual Mandate…Elimination of federal funding for Cost Sharing Reductions (CSR), [and] 2018 reinstatement of Health Insurance Tax…Were it not for the three factors within the control of the Federal Government, Horizon BCBSNJ’s individual premiums would have an average increase of 9.6%.” [Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, 10/17/17]

CEO of CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield: Things Are “Materially Worse” Under Trump. “Continuing actions on the part of the administration to systematically undermine the market and make it almost impossible to carry out the mission…If continued efforts at the federal level undermine the marketplaces, I would think the board would have to examine what they would want — that’s very much on their mind.” [Washington Post, 5/1/18]

Lindsey Graham: Republicans “Own The Outcome” On Health Care. “Sen. Graham told Breitbart News, ‘In October, premiums are going up. Obamacare cannot be fixed. It’s going to continue to collapse, and then, we own the outcome. By repealing the individual mandate, which is a step forward in the eyes of the public, we own the issue. We have a responsibility to do something about the collapsing Obamacare system. I believe that we’re going to get blamed more than Democrats because we stopped trying to repeal Obamacare, and to suggest that we don’t own it is just simply politically naive.’ Graham continued, ‘It can hurt us in 2018. It can hurt by our base feeling like we betrayed them. It can hurt us from people suffering from Obamacare, like we don’t have a solution. It will energize Democrats. It can undercut everything we did on the tax cut side.’” [Breitbart, 2/6/18]

Rep. Charlie Dent: “We, The Republican Party…Own” Health Care Now. “Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) argued Friday that President Trump was ‘ill-advised’ to end key ObamaCare payments, warning that the GOP now ‘owns’ whatever happens to ObamaCare. ‘I think the president is ill-advised to take this course of action because … we, the Republican Party, will own this,’ Dent, a key House moderate who is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, said on CNN. Asked about Trump’s previous comments blaming problems with ObamaCare on former President Barack Obama, Dent pointed out that Republicans currently control the White House and have majorities in both chambers of Congress. ‘Barack Obama is a former president. President Trump is the president and he’s a Republican, and we control the Congress,’ Dent said. ‘So we own the system now. We’re going to have to figure out a way to stabilize this situation … This is on us.’” [The Hill, 10/13/17]

Washington Post: “The Pottery Barn Rule Comes To Mind: You Break It, You Own It.” “This is not ‘letting’ Obamacare fail. Many nonpartisan experts believe that these active measures are likely to undermine the pillars of the 2010 law and hasten the collapse of the marketplaces. The Pottery Barn rule comes to mind: You break it, you own it. Yes, the plate you just shattered had some cracks in it. But if you dropped it on the ground, the store is going to blame you.” [Washington Post, 10/13/17]

Washington Post: “Trump’s Not Going To Be Able To Avoid Blame For Kneecapping Obamacare.” [Washington Post, 10/13/17]

“After Months Of Pinning The Blame For Obamacare’s Shortcomings On Democrats And Watching His Own Party Fail To Act, President Donald Trump Just Took Ownership Of A Struggle That’s Consumed Republicans For Seven Years.” “After months of pinning the blame for Obamacare’s shortcomings on Democrats and watching his own party fail to act, President Donald Trump just took ownership of a struggle that’s consumed Republicans for seven years. Trump’s decision late Thursday to end government subsidies to insurers to help lower-income Americans afford to use their coverage under the Affordable Care Act was the most drastic step he’s taken to undermine his predecessor’s signature achievement. It also lobbed a live bomb into the laps of Republicans lawmakers 13 months before congressional elections after he publicly berated the party’s Senate leadership for being unable to keep a longstanding promise to repeal the law.” [Bloomberg, 10/13/17]

The American People Agree: President Trump And Congressional Republicans Are Playing Politics With People’s Health Care.  A poll conducted last September found that 61 percent of voters believed President Trump was “trying to make the Affordable Care Act fail,” and 64 percent of voters said Trump is “playing politics with people’s health care.” The poll also found that the American people seriously disapprove of how Republicans in Congress are treating health care: 80 percent of voters disapprove while only 20 percent approve. [Hart Research, 9/5/17]

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