ACA Update | August 11, 2017: A Bipartisan Plan for the ACA; and Insurers Say Uncertainty Is Driving Premium Rate Hikes
It has been a relatively quiet week on Capitol Hill with Members of Congress on recess and back in their home states and districts. On Wednesday, a bipartisan health policy coalition announced a plan that they will be presenting to Members of Congress to strengthen and stabilize the ACA, pay ...
ACA Update | August 4, 2017: After Repeal Failure, Focus Turns to Cost-Sharing Payments and Market Stabilization
Since the “skinny repeal” bill’s dramatic failure in the Senate last week, all eyes have been on critical cost-sharing payments (CSR’s) and market stabilization. The Senate HELP Committee, led by Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-LA) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA), have only weeks to address these issues, before insurance companies ...
Senate Votes Down Repeal Plan
After a dramatic week in Washington, the Senate voted last night to reject the “skinny repeal” bill that would have destabilized insurance markets and resulted in 15 million fewer people insured as early as next year. The vote was the third repeal bill the Senate rejected this week. It is ...
ACA Update | June 16, 2017: As Negative Analyses Pile Up, Senate GOP Continues Secret Health Care Negotiations
As we reported last week, moderate Republicans in the Senate seem to be caving on their earlier promises to reject any bill that slashes Medicaid funding. Senators Collins and Capito have reportedly stated they would consider a “phasing out” of the Medicaid expansion program. However, lengthening the timeframe for ending ...
My Takeaway from Hill Visits: Empathy is in Short Supply
With the health reform debate moving to the Senate following passage of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) in the House, I’ve spent the last few weeks meeting with numerous Senate offices on both sides of the aisle. During one such meeting with a Republican Senator’s health policy team, I ...
ACA Update | May 26, 2017: CBO Confirms 23 Million More Uninsured Under AHCA, Trump Undecided on 2018 Subsidies
This week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released their analysis on the impacts of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). As expected, the results were devastating. The AHCA would leave 23 million more Americans uninsured by 2026 than under the current law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The coverage ...
Young Adult Cancer Survivors Worry What the AHCA Would Mean for Them
Last month, I had the honor of speaking at CancerCon, an incredible gathering of 650 adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors, their caregivers, and health care providers and advocates from across the country. Along with Kelsey Nepote, NCCS Advocacy Manager, and Kate Houghton, CEO of Critical Mass, we presented ...
Poor Amendments Cannot Fix A Bad Bill
By Ben Fishman, NCCS Board Member—Three years ago this week, a specially-trained neurosurgeon opened up my scalp, and for next 12 hours, he delicately resected as much of a golf-ball sized tumor as possible without permanently damaging the area of my brain that controls speech and fine motor skills. The ...
ACA Update | April 28, 2017: AHCA 2.0 Is Released (Worse for Patients than the Original Bill)
As we previously reported, the American Health Care Act (AHCA) – the effort to replace the Affordable Care Act – was not even brought to a vote in the House of Representatives before the spring Congressional recess. Members of Congress confirm that advocates who opposed the AHCA were key to ...
ACA Update | April 14, 2017: Town Hall Headlines, Cost-Sharing Subsidies, the “Death Spiral”, and Trump’s Final “Market Stabilization” Rule
Although Members of Congress are on recess this week and next, talks of ACA and its future continue. Grassroots support of the ACA has made headlines again at town hall events across the U.S. during this recess. CBS News reports on several town hall meetings, where Republican lawmakers faced intense ...
