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Misleading Congress, Azar Denies Reality of Rate Hikes

HHS SECRETARY AZAR: “I really do not believe it will have a significant impact on our risk pool, the repeal of that..I don’t see the premium effect.” [Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, 5/10/18]

EX-HHS SECRETARY TOM PRICE: “There are many, and I am 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 in that market.” [World Health Care Congress speech, 5/1/18]

VIRGINIA INSURANCE COMPANIES: “Both Cigna and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield cited policies advocated by the Trump administration, including the repeal of ObamaCare’s individual mandate, as part of its justifications for the increases. Cigna is proposing an average premium increase of 15 percent for its 103,264 customers in Virginia, with a range of increases from 6.4 percent to 40 percent. CareFirst is proposing a 64 percent increase for its approximately 4,500 customers in the commonwealth, citing an increase in sicker people entering the marketplace.” [The Hill, 5/4/18]

CONGRESSMAN DON BEYER (D-VA): “Come to Virginia, where premiums will soar by up to 64% because of sabotage by your boss and your agency, and say that again. Maryland too. Have you looked, or talked to actual people?” [Twitter, 5/11/18]

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In News

This Week in the War on Health Care

While foreign policy dominated the headlines this week, Republicans continued their unprecedented assault on the American health care system. Here’s what happened this week in the war on health care – as well as three op-eds and one poll worth checking out:

UNINSURED RATE UP THANKS TO REPUBLICANS’ WAR ON HEALTH CARE

A new survey from Gallup finds statistically significant uninsured rate spikes in 17 states over the first year of the Trump presidency, attributing the dramatic increase to Republicans’ repeal-and-sabotage campaign against the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid.

Health care advocates warned President Trump and Congressional Republicans that their repeated attacks would lead to fewer coverage and higher costs, and these numbers confirm it. Republicans’ war on health care has had a fast and dramatic negative impact, and things will get worse until we can stop these attacks on our care.

PREMIUMS RISE AS INSURANCE COMPANIES DECRY GOP ACTIONS

This week, 2019 rates were officially announced in Virginia and Maryland, and the results are not pretty. Rates in Virginia are slated to rise as much as 64%, while they could go up as much as 91% in Maryland. What’s behind these hikes?

As Cigna said in Virginia:

Factors behind the rate request include “elimination of the Individual Mandate penalties” and “anticipated changes to regulations regarding Short Term Medical and Association Health Plans.” [Fierce Healthcare, 5/10]

And as Kaiser Permanente said in Maryland:

“‘These proposed rates reflect the expected costs of providing coverage for these members, including the impact of eliminating the individual mandate penalty.” [Baltimore Sun, 5/7]

Now more than ever, bipartisan actions to stabilize the marketplace would be valuable. Unfortunately…

SEN. ALEXANDER REFUSING TO WORK WITH DEMOCRATS TO SHORE UP MARKETPLACE

A new report indicated that Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) will refuse to work with Democrats to avoid double-digit rate hikes caused by Republicans’ actions to sabotage health care.

In other words, after blowing up bipartisan talks to alleviate the damaging rate hikes GOP policies are forcing on millions of Americans, Sen. Alexander is now flailing to avoid the consequences of his actions. His ‘dog ate my homework’ finger-pointing is too little, too late.

CHILDREN’S COVERAGE BECOMES THE LATEST FOCUS OF THE GOP’S HEALTH CARE CUTS

Yesterday, President Trump sent Congress a proposal to slash $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to patch up the record deficits being inflicted by his tax breaks for big corporations, cuts which would cause a ripple effect of harm to critical health care programs.

Before the Trump presidency the CHIP program earned broad bipartisan support. Now, Republicans in Congress use kids’ health as a bargaining chip Is there no bridge too far for the GOP in their relentless war on our health care?

REPUBLICANS NOMINATE THREE MORE ENEMIES OF HEALTH CARE

On Tuesday night, candidates who have pledged to continue the GOP’s destructive repeal-and-sabotage agenda won Senate primaries in Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia.

  • Ohio Republican Senate nominee Jim Renacci has voted to repeal or tear apart the Affordable Care Act 58 times, including last year’s House repeal bill that would have kicked 23 million Americans off of their health care, spiked premiums, undermined health care and reproductive rights for women, and imposed an age tax on older Americans;
  • Indiana Republican Senate nominee Mike Braun has called for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, with no plan to replace it; and
  • West Virginia Republican Senate nominee Patrick Morrissey has twice sued the federal government to overturn the Affordable Care Act, most recently joining a February suit to invalidate the law.

In the Senate, these nominees would push a destructive agenda that represents a grave threat to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, placing millions of Americans’ coverage and access to care at risk. But despite what Renacci, Braun, and Morrissey might say, the majority of the American people are saying louder: enough is enough – it’s time for Republicans to end their war on our health care. In fact, just this week…

OPINION PAGES CALL OUT GOP SABOTAGE

The Washington Post and Minneapolis Star Tribune both published scathing editorials against aspects of the GOP’s prolonged repeal-and-sabotage campaign this week, and a New York Times column made clear the effects of this campaign.

Here’s the Washington Post:

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.

The Star Tribune:

Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed extending the coverage period to roughly a year from about three months…. The savings might dazzle consumers, but ‘Buyer beware!’ ought to be shouted from the rooftops… Short-term plans are cheap because they don’t cover very much. Policymakers pushing these plans ought to be asked if they’d be comfortable relying on them for their families. The only responsible answer is ‘no.’

And the New York Times:

Insurers are already proposing major premium hikes — and they are specifically attributing those hikes to G.O.P. actions that are driving healthy Americans out of the market, leaving a sicker, more expensive pool behind. So here’s what’s going to happen: Soon, many Americans will suffer sticker shock from their insurance policies; federal subsidies will protect most of them, but by no means everyone. They’ll also hear news about declining insurance coverage. And Republicans will say, ‘See, Obamacare is failing.’ But the problem isn’t with Obamacare, it’s with the politicians who unleashed this termite infestation — who are doing all they can to take away your health coverage. And they need to be held accountable.

KAISER TRACKING POLL CONFIRMS: HEALTH CARE A MAJOR ISSUE FOR VOTERS

This morning’s Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll found that health care remains a top issue among voters, as covered by the Washington Times and HealthExec. Among its key findings:

  • 77% of those surveyed said health care was an important issue, with 30% of these voters listing health care costs as the reason why – just as premiums are rising due to GOP sabotage.
  • 19 percent of Independents cited health care a top issue, second only to the economy at 22 percent.
  • Kaiser considers one in four Americans “health care voters,” who “say a candidate’s position on health care will be the ‘most important factor’ in their decision.”
  • Cutting Medicaid and Medicare remains deeply unpopular. As the poll found: “Few partisans – regardless of party identification – say they would be ‘more likely’ to vote for a candidate who wants to reduce government spending on health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.”
  • People are more likely to support candidates who support the Affordable Care Act, and less likely to support candidates who favor repeal.

The Kaiser survey follows numerous recent polls that find health care remains the top issue heading into midterms, including a new CBS poll released Tuesday that finds health care is the most important issue in deciding votes this November.

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In News

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll Finds Health Care Remains a Top Issue to Voters

This morning’s Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll finds that health care remains a top issue among voters, including Independents, and that one in four are “health care voters,” whose votes will be determined by candidates’ health care positions. Among the key findings:

  • 77% of those surveyed said health care was an important issue, with 30% of these voters listing health care costs as the reason why – just as premiums are rising due to GOP sabotage.

  • Health care is also a top issue for battleground voters, those in areas with competitive House, Senate, or Governor’s races.
  • 19 percent of Independents cited health care a top issue, second only to the economy at 22 percent.
  • Kaiser considers one in four Americans “health care voters,” who “say a candidate’s position on health care will be the ‘most important factor’ in their decision.”
  • Cutting Medicaid and Medicare remains deeply unpopular. As the poll found: “Few partisans – regardless of party identification – say they would be ‘more likely’ to vote for a candidate who wants to reduce government spending on health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.”
  • The Affordable Care Act maintains a 6-point net-positive rating. As the poll’s author’s note, “This is similar to last month’s tracking poll and continues the nearly year-long trend of a larger share of the public holding favorable than unfavorable views.”
  • People are more likely to support candidates who support the Affordable Care Act, and less likely to support candidates who favor repeal.

The Kaiser survey follows numerous recent polls that find health care remains the top issue heading into midterms, including a new CBS poll released Tuesday that finds health care is the most important issue in deciding votes this November.

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Susan Collins & Seema Verma Had Their Chance to Lower Rates & They Blew It

Washington, D.C. – After Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) bragged about discussing rising premiums with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Administrator Seema Verma, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Campaign Chair Leslie Dach released the following statement:

“Senator Collins talking to Administrator Verma about Republican rate hikes is about as much help to working families as two foxes chatting in front of a chicken coop. Senator Collins’ ‘plan’ for lowering premiums was to vote for a TrumpTax bill that raised them by double digits, while Administrator Verma’s ‘plan’ is to sell junk insurance that doesn’t cover essential medical care and allows companies to once again discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. Last fall, Senator Collins had a clear opportunity to tackle rising premiums, and she missed the boat. She could have voted against the GOP tax bill and kept her promise to pass a bipartisan market stabilization package to undo some of the Trump Administration’s own sabotage. Instead, she did neither. Senator Collins and Seema Verma can discuss rising premiums until the cows come home, but in fact, it’s their policies that got us into this mess in the first place.”

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Louisiana Nursing Home Crisis Highlights How Medicaid Cuts Threaten Seniors

As Louisiana officials announce that they will send 37,000 seniors nursing home eviction notices due to state Republicans’ Medicaid funding cuts, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“The nursing home crisis in Louisiana is a stark example of how Medicaid cuts threaten critical supports for American seniors. States’ Medicaid programs are facing an onslaught of attacks and funding cuts from Republican politicians at both the federal and state level. Meanwhile, six in 10 nursing home residents in America need Medicaid funding to keep their beds, and the program also supports over 50% of seniors’ in-home long-term care. Republican attacks on Medicaid directly threaten seniors, and as they continue to escalate, we will continue to see crises like the shameful situation today in Louisiana.”

Why Medicaid Cuts Threaten Seniors

  • More than 6.9 million American seniors have Medicaid coverage. 6,920,200 seniors, age 65 and older, are enrolled in Medicaid.
  • Medicaid funds 53 percent of long-term care nationwide. As seniors age, long-term care services become more and more vital, serving half of seniors over age 75 and three in four seniors over age 85.
  • More than one in five Medicare enrollees also have Medicaid coverage. Most dual-eligibles are over age 65, and are more likely to have complex and chronic health needs.

 

FACT SHEET: How Medicaid Works for Seniors & Older Adults

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Republicans in Indiana, Ohio & West Virginia Nominate Three Enemies of Health Care

Washington, D.C. – After candidates who have pledged to continue Republicans’ destructive repeal-and-sabotage agenda won Senate primaries in Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“Ohio Republican Senate nominee Jim Renacci has voted to repeal or tear apart the Affordable Care Act 58 times, including last year’s House repeal bill that would have kicked 23 million Americans off of their health care, spiked premiums, undermined health care and reproductive rights for women, and imposed an age tax on older Americans; Indiana Republican Senate nominee Mike Braun has called for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, with no plan to replace it; and West Virginia Republican Senate nominee Patrick Morrisey has twice sued the federal government to overturn the Affordable Care Act, most recently joining a February suit to invalidate the law. In the Senate, these nominees would push a destructive agenda that represents a grave threat to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, placing millions of Americans’ coverage and access to care at risk. But they can be stopped: poll after poll, including a new CBS survey, continue to show that health care is the top issue on Americans’ minds, and that people of all political stripes reject the Republican war on health care. Despite what Renacci, Braun, and Morrisey might say, the majority of the American people are saying louder: enough is enough – it’s time for Republicans to end their war on our health care.”

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New Report: Sen. Alexander Now Refusing to Work With Dems, Avoid Double-Digit Rate Hikes

As a new report indicates Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) will refuse to work with Democrats to avoid predicted double-digit rate hikes caused by Republicans’ actions to sabotage health care, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“With insurance companies in Virginia and Maryland blaming Republican sabotage for upcoming double-digit rate hikes, GOP leaders are flailing to avoid the consequences of their actions. Chairman Alexander blew up bipartisan talks to alleviate the damaging rate hikes that Trump-era Republican policies are forcing on millions of Americans, and his ‘dog ate my homework’ finger-pointing is too little, too late. Over a year into Republicans’ repeal-and-sabotage campaign against health care, these dishonest excuses will only add to Americans’ frustration with the governing party’s track record of higher costs, more people uninsured, and fewer protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions.”

GOP chairman in talks with Trump officials on more ObamaCare actions
The Hill // Peter Sullivan // 5.8.18
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) wrote in a recent letter that bipartisan efforts to fix ObamaCare have failed and he is now turning to focus on additional actions the Trump administration can take on its own regarding the health law.

Alexander worked for months with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on a bipartisan effort to provide funding to bring down ObamaCare premiums, but the effort fell apart in March. Alexander, in a letter to supporters sent Monday and obtained by The Hill, said he does not see any path forward for bipartisanship on the issue.

“Given Democrats’ attitude, I know of nothing that Republicans and Democrats can agree on to stabilize the individual health insurance market,” Alexander wrote.

“So now efforts to help Americans paying skyrocketing premiums will turn to the Trump Administration and the states,” he added.

He said he is talking to Trump administration officials about “other administrative actions they can take to give states more flexibility to help lower health insurance premiums, especially for the 9 million working Americans in the individual market who do not receive a federal subsidy.”

The letter comes as Democrats are ramping up their attacks on Republicans for coming ObamaCare premium increases, pointing to actions like the GOP-led repeal of the mandate to have health insurance last December.

But Democrats say they still want to work with Republicans, even if Republicans don’t see a path forward.

“I would hope that especially now, after giving insurers a huge tax cut and as families are starting to see headlines about higher premiums next year due to Republican sabotage, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would want to work with Democrats to fix these problems,” Murray said in a statement.

“It’s disappointing that instead, they are digging in their heels, doubling down on partisanship, and forcing families to pay the price by allowing insurers to skirt patient protections—but as I’ve said before, Democrats are not walking away from the table even if Republicans are,” she added.

Among other issues, the key dispute in March that broke down bipartisan talks was a dispute over abortion restrictions. Republicans said a deal must include restrictions known as the Hyde Amendment, preventing federal funding from going to abortions, but Democrats rejected the language, saying the restrictions would effectively prevent insurers from offering abortion coverage at all.

There was never a way found around that impasse.

“Chairman Alexander blew up bipartisan talks to alleviate the damaging rate hikes that Trump-era Republican policies are forcing on millions of Americans, and his ‘dog ate my homework’ finger-pointing is too little, too late,” said Brad Woodhouse, campaign director of the pro-ObamaCare group Protect Our Care.

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Latest Focus of GOP War On Health Care: Health Care For Kids

As President Trump today sends Congress a proposal to slash $7 billion  from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to patch up record deficits being inflicted by his tax breaks for big corporations, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“With President Trump now demanding a $7 billion cut to kids’ coverage, are there any bridges too far for Republicans in their relentless war on our health care? Before the Trump presidency, the CHIP program earned broad bipartisan support; now, Republicans in Congress use kids’ health as a bargaining chip and the President proposes CHIP cuts that would cause a ripple effect of harm to critical health care programs.  President Trump should be ashamed, and so should any Republican in Congress who supports this heartless plan.”

BACKGROUND
“Children and states had to wait months for CHIP to be funded, and finally breathed a sigh of relief when Congress moved forward with a long-term CHIP funding extension. This proposal undermines the bipartisan CHIP agreement and removes reassurances states need that funding will be available to keep kids covered. The Administration is going back on that agreement and cutting CHIP funding in order to score political points with their base.” [Georgetown University Center for Children & Families, 5.8.18]

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One Year After House GOP Vote to Repeal Health Care, Health Care Advocates Host Week of Action

WASHINGTON, D.C. — One year after Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to strip 23 million Americans of their health care, Health Care Voter and Protect Our Care held more than 30 events across the country to hold Republicans accountable for voting to rip away our health care.

From coast to coast—from Arizona to Maine, and from California to West Virginia—health care advocates mobilized against Republican efforts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and undermine access to quality, affordable health care.

See how the week of action played out across the country:

The New York Times: On Anniversary of House Obamacare Repeal, Democrats Look to Extract a Price

“All told, the House bill would have increased the number of people without health insurance by 14 million this year and by 23 million in 2026, the Congressional Budget Office estimated….To mark the anniversary of House passage, health care advocates are holding events around the country this week.”

Associated Press: Democrats using 2017 ‘Obamacare’ vote as political weapon

“A year ago Friday, Democrats sarcastically serenaded Republicans with chants of “Nah nah nah nah, hey hey, goodbye” as the GOP shoved legislation through the House scuttling the Obamacare health care law. Now, Democrats battling to capture House and Senate control in November’s elections are trying to weaponize that roll call, in which 217 Republicans voted yes.”

Miami Herald: One year ago Carlos Curbelo tried to repeal Obamacare. Democrats aren’t forgetting.

“On the one year anniversary of the House vote to pass the American Health Care Act, known as the AHCA, Democrats are spending millions to remind voters in districts like Curbelo’s that their representative voted to essentially repeal Obamacare, the sweeping healthcare law passed solely by Democrats in 2009…Groups like Health Care Voter are planning to spend money and put boots on the ground in districts like Curbelo’s.”

Maine Beacon: One year after vote to cut health care, Mainers still seek answers from Rep. Poliquin

“Walker spoke at a press conference at the Bangor Public Library on Friday, where several Second District residents lambasted the GOP member of Congress for his vote to approve the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which would have stripped nearly 117,000 Mainers of coverage by 2026 and spiked premiums for people with pre-existing conditions.”

Medina Gazette: Protesters want Renacci town meeting

“Armed with a microphone and signs reading “Repeal Renacci” and “Renacci why are you hiding from us,” about 25 protesters gathered in front of U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci’s Wadsworth office Monday afternoon, demanding the former Wadsworth mayor hold a public town hall meeting.”

Organizers held a rally in Washington, D.C. to showcase how the Resistance is fighting back against the GOP Empire.

Speak Out Central New York held a rally with tombstones to highlight the lives threatened by Republican efforts to repeal the ACA.

Organizers in Arizona held a press conference featuring patients who benefited from the ACA, including health care advocates Jeff Jeans and Steve Gomez.

The SoCal Health Care Coalition held a press conference with medical professionals speaking out against GOP sabotage.

Mainers Against Health Care Cuts, Mainers for Accountable Leadership, Working Maine, and the Maine People’s Alliance held a rally to hold Congressman Poliquin accountable for his vote to repeal the ACA.

Progress PA, Partners For Progress SWPA, SEIU Healthcare PA, and Southwest PANOW gathered outside Rep. Rothfus office to remind him that Pennsylvanians have not and will not forget his vote to repeal the ACA.

Organizers in Nevada held a press conference in Las Vegas outside UMC hospital with SEIU, Health Care Voter, NARAL, and Children’s Action Alliance to call out Senator Dean Heller and Rep. Mark Amodei for their votes to repeal the ACA.

Tennesseans hosted press conferences in Chattanooga and Nashville to highlight Representatives Black, Blackburn, and Fleischmann’s votes for ACA repeal.

West Virginians gathered outside Rep. Evan Jenkins’ Huntington office to hold him accountable for his vote to repeal the ACA. Participants included Protect Our Care and Tri-State Indivisible.

Health Care Voter and Protect Our Care will continue sending a clear message to Republicans in Congress: you must protect the health care that Americans need or be held accountable for your votes.

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Maryland Insurance Companies, Citing Trump Health Care Sabotage, Plan to Raise Rates Again this Fall

Washington, D.C. – As preliminary Maryland rate filings for 2019 individual-market health insurance indicated a potential double-digit average premium increase due to Washington Republicans’ repeal-and-sabotage agenda, Protect Our Care Campaign 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 Maryland 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 Marylanders.”

From the Insurers:

Kaiser Permanente: Proposed Rates Reflect “The Impact Of Eliminating The Individual Mandate Penalty.” “Kaiser Permanente’s proposed 2019 rates for Maryland Health Insurance Exchange members represent our efforts to ensure we can sustain and deliver high-quality health care for all our members over the long term.” the insurer said in a statement. “These proposed rates reflect the expected costs of providing coverage for these members, including the impact of eliminating the individual mandate penalty.” [Baltimore Sun, 5/7]

Why Marylanders’ 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 Maryland forecast 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. In Maryland, no short-term plans available have to cover maternity care, and only 0 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.

Despite Republican Sabotage, the Affordable Care Act Has Improved Marylanders’ Care.

  • 153,584 Marylanders signed up for Marketplace coverage this year.
  • Thanks to the Marketplace and Medicaid expansion, Maryland’s uninsured rate fell by 6 percent between 2013 and 2016 as Marylanders have gained access to affordable coverage.
  • Before today’s announcement, the Urban Institute predicted that Maryland premiums for 2019 could rise 18.4 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 79 percent of Maryland Marketplace consumers, whose average 2018 premium is $131 per month.
  • But because of the Republican sabotage agenda, many middle-income Marylanders could pay hundreds or thousands of dollars more than they would have otherwise.

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%.

  • 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 Maryland by an average 18.4 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.

KEY QUOTES

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]

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]

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]

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. [Garin Poll, 9/5/17]

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