Trumpcare News Updates

Stay up-to-date on Trumpcare and the future of Obamacare.

healthmarkets.com: If you haven’t been paying that much attention to what’s going on with President-elect Donald Trump’s healthcare plan or if you’re looking to get the latest updates all in one place, this summary of recent events can get you up to speed on Trumpcare news.

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 22, 2016

Nancy Pelosi Urges Democrats to Fight for Obamacare

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wrote a letter to Democrats saying, “In January, we will face a new Congress and a new Administration. House Democrats stand ready to fight vigorously for America’s hard-working families.” Pelosi called on Democrats to “plan press events to ‘highlight the risks’ of repealing the ACA and ending the Medicare guarantee.” This article from The Hill talks more about how Pelosi is planning to fight to protect Obamacare.

Democratic Governors Warn Republicans About Obamacare Repeal

Members of the Democratic Governors Association wrote a letter to top Republican leaders in which they “estimated that states could face nearly $69 billion in costs for uncompensated care over the next 10 years if the health law is repealed.” Democrats who signed the letter called the Republicans’ repeal and delayed replacement plan “nothing more than a Washington, D.C. bait-and-switch.”

GOP Congressman Says Americans Need to Manage Their Own Healthcare Costs After Repeal

• Congressman Bill Huizenga (R-MI) told reporters that changes in the way healthcare is delivered will be a sure thing after Obamacare is repealed, so Americans will need to become more responsible for their treatment costs. In his interview, Huizenga gave an example of when his son injured his arm, and he took his son to the doctor the next day because an immediate emergency room visit would have been more costly. As reported in this Huffington Post article, “The Michigan congressman’s comments are in line with a long-held, free-market view of the health care system.”
• Huizenga reported that delaying treatment for his son’s broken arm is “an example of the kind of choices Americans would face if Republicans’ repeal of the health care law shifts more out-of-pocket costs to consumers.” (Although, he later said in another interview “that using the experience of his son’s broken arm was a bad example to cite.”) When asked about health savings accounts, he said, “We as consumers and users of this need to get better acquainted with what are the true costs. HSAs can do that.”

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 21, 2016

Obamacare Recipients File Motion to Protect Cost-Sharing Payments

In regard to the lawsuit Republicans filed against the Obama administration for using federal dollars to pay for cost-sharing subsidies, a group of Obamacare recipients filed a motion to enter the case with the hope of protecting cost-sharing payments from being defunded. “The consumers argue that they should be allowed to become parties to the case because once President-elect Donald Trump enters office, the interests of Obamacare defenders will no longer be represented.” They also warned that their health coverage would be in jeopardy because insurance companies would pull out of the market if these payments are cancelled.

White House Encourages Researchers to Protect Obamacare Data from Trump

Independent researchers who began taking measures to “download key health care data and documents before Jan. 20” say they were further motivated to so by top White House health reform official Jeanne Lambrew “who also sounded alarms [that] the new administration might expunge reams of information from public websites and end access to data.” Researchers aim to quickly collect data released by new offices that were created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) “to regulate health insurance and test reforms.” They argue that collecting ACA data is essential because it may be needed to support the Democratic Party’s case for keeping major parts of the ACA intact.

Democrats Urge Trump to Work With Them on Drug Price Reform

• A group of 19 Democratic senators wrote a letter on December 20 in which they urged Trump to cooperate with them on the issue of rising prescription drug costs. The letter noted 5 areas that Trump should help with: “allowing the Medicare program to negotiate prescription prices, increasing transparency, stopping abusive pricing, passing reform on incentives for innovation and supporting generic competition for branded drugs.”
• Democrats want Trump to work with them on legislation that would “lift the ban on the HHS secretary negotiating drug prices for Medicare Part D beneficiaries” and “combat overnight price hikes or regular, unjustified price increases.”

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 20, 2016

Trump’s Pick for Budget Director Could Shape ACA Repeal

President-elect Donald Trump has named conservative Republican, Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), as his pick for Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mulvaney is a strong opponent of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Planned Parenthood, and he was among leaders who held a “standoff over the ACA that led to a government shutdown” back in 2013. The Trump administration’s repeal of the ACA could be shaped by Mulvaney’s views, which include having less involvement from the federal government in healthcare, a premium-support system for Medicare, and Medicaid block grants for states. You can get more info on Mulvaney’s views here.

Connecticut Hospitals and Clinics Fear Medicaid Cuts Under Trump

The Republicans’ proposed scaling back of Medicaid expansion is a major concern for Connecticut’s hospitals and clinics. The Chief Medical Officer of the Hartford Healthcare system, Dr. Rocco Orlando, stated that cuts to Medicaid would result in revenue loss of “tens of millions of dollars” and would lead to “staff reductions and scaling back of services.” Orlando also stated that “Connecticut hospitals’ fiscal stability and sustainability, as well as patient access to care, will be compromised” if the ACA is repealed and Medicaid cuts remain in effect. For clinics, the Republicans’ block grant proposal would reduce or freeze “federal Medicaid spending” for the Connecticut’s clinics that serve low-income residents.

Counties That Support Trump May Be Impacted the Most by a Repeal

A study conducted by Gallup revealed that of the 8 county types that experienced an increase in health insurance coverage above the national average, “six of those types— representing about 77 million people or 33 million votes, a quarter of the total cast—sided with Mr. Trump, some by very large margins.” Some of the county types where Trump voters reside are in “large parts of Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin,” and those counties are considered “rural Graying America, Rural Middle America and Working Class Country counties.” These areas were among regions that the ACA targeted to expand coverage, and thus would be greatly impacted by a repeal. This Wall Street Journal article talks more about this subject.

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 19, 2016

How a Repeal Could Affect Job-Based Coverage

The ACA removed the coverage limit on how much an insurance plan will pay for medical services over a person’s lifetime, which has been instrumental for people diagnosed with serious medical conditions. But a repeal could bring this back, which would affect both individual and employer-sponsored health insurance. Some experts don’t think a ban on coverage limits will remain if the ACA is repealed and that this issue may be left up to the states to decide. Experts also predict that the mandate, which requires companies with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees to offer health coverage, may be repealed because it has led to such problems as “companies limiting their full-time hiring.” However, it’s expected that “many firms will ‘continue offering coverage to their employees because employees insist on it,’” said University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley.

New Rules for Obamacare Marketplaces

On December 16, the Obama administration issued a new regulation for the 2018 insurance marketplace. The regulation “seeks to address some insurer complaints with how the marketplaces operate.” Some of these complaints have led to insurers leaving the marketplaces. The regulation has also implemented a new formula that changes the way payments to insurers are calculated. This was done to help protect insurers from the financial loss of insuring high-cost enrollees. But “insurers have complained that it does not work effectively.” Given that the GOP plans to delay an Obamacare replacement, it’s expected that the marketplaces will “remain in operation in some form for a couple of years.”

Obamacare Enrollment Hits Record High

In the wake of the Trump-GOP plan to repeal the healthcare law, more than 670,000 Americans signed up for Obamacare on December 15—the “busiest single enrollment day since the healthcare law’s coverage expansion began three years ago.” This enrollment came from the 38 states that participate in the marketplaces and includes new and returning Obamacare sign-ups—many of which are low-income Americans who receive premium subsidies.

A Repeal Could Push Residents Back to Free Clinics in Iowa

In Iowa, an increasing number of low-income and homeless patients are receiving care from the Eastern Iowa Health Center (EIHC) instead of the area’s free clinic. Joe Lock, CEO of the EIHC, argues that “those patients could be pushed back to the free clinic or to hospital emergency rooms” if they become uninsured due to Obamacare repeal. Darlene Schmidt, who is the chief executive of the free clinic, said, “We’ll have to come up with resources. Right now we don’t have the dollars or the volunteers to provide [that level] of care.” If a repeal happens, about 230,000 Iowa residents who have coverage through Obamacare and Medicaid would be affected.

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 16, 2016

Repealing and Replacing Obamacare

• Congressional Republicans who previously said replacing Obamacare could take 3 years are now saying they want to keep Obamacare for up to 4 years. However, they’re still planning to begin the repeal process early next year by starting with a vote for a proposed budget on January 3. The Republicans’ plan is to repeal Obamacare “with small bills that tackle one part of the health care system at a time.” They’re also planning to put together health care laws based on House Speaker Paul Ryan’s “A Better Way” proposal. But this plan is not yet official.
• On replacing Obamacare, House Republicans reported that their goal is to “guarantee ‘universal access’ to health care and coverage.” But that this goal is “not necessarily to ensure that everyone actually has insurance.” A House leadership aide told reporters, “Our goal here is to make sure that everybody can buy coverage or find coverage if they choose to,” and “repealing major provisions” in Obamacare will be a top “priority for the first 100 days of the Trump administration.”
• If Obamacare is repealed and revenue provisions for premium subsidies go away, some Republicans and health policy experts warn that federal revenue would be reduced by nearly $1.2 trillion over a 10-year period. An option GOP strategists are considering is doing a repeal while keeping some of the ACA’s financial provisions intact. Another option is to give states federal funding to run their own health coverage systems and allow states to set up their own ACA reform models. Find out more about the GOP’s repeal plans.

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 15, 2016

Democrats Open to Replacing Obamacare

Although Democrats in the Senate oppose repealing Obamacare, they’re willing to help Republicans with replacing it. Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri said, “If it makes sense, I think there’ll be a lot of Democrats who would be for it.” Another Democratic leader, Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, believes that if the GOP can keep the best parts of Obamacare that give millions of Americans access to affordable coverage while addressing some of its flaws, “we [Democrats] should work hard with Republicans on that. But we don’t know yet if they’re serious.” The GOP may have some leverage in getting certain Democrats on their side because 25 Democrats are up for re-election in 2018 with 10 from states that President-elect Donald Trump won.

HHS Secretary Reiterates Warning on Dangers of Repeal

The current secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Sylvia Mathews Burwell, met with Congress last week to warn that a repeal will cause chaos. On December 14, Burwell spoke with CNN to talk more about this issue. Burwell warned that even if Trump does a partial repeal, it would lead to a downward spiral of the entire healthcare system and that drafting a replacement plan would be a “massive endeavor.” She told CNN, “It is a difficult task and our system is one where when you move one piece, it’s related to another piece. It’s like a Jenga puzzle. And if you pull a piece out, you can make the thing tumble.” You can get more details on Burwell’s warnings in this CNN article.

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 14, 2016

A Repeal Bill Before Trump’s Inauguration May be Unlikely

Congressional Republicans hope to pass a repeal bill between January 3 when lawmakers reconvene and January 20 on inauguration day. But Republican G. William Hoagland, who is a senior staff member of the Senate Budget Committee and senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center said, “No way. I just don’t think it’s possible.” Ed Lorenzen, who serves as a senior adviser to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, thinks January 20 isn’t possible. But he said, “I think they could do it by the end of January.” He also stated, “Mechanically they can get it done. The bigger question is, can they decide what should be in the package?”

Nancy Pelosi Doesn’t Think Repeal Will Happen

In a statement to reporters, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said, “They’re not going to repeal it. I don’t think they’re going to repeal the Affordable Care Act.” Pelosi argues that Republicans and the Trump administration will find repealing and replacing Obamacare to be an enormous task. She also predicts that they won’t repeal the law because people would lose benefits they value and “they won’t be able to replace it because that would cost the government money they don’t want to spend.”

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 13, 2016

ACA Repeal Set to Begin Early Next Year

• On Monday, December 12, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the Senate will begin voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) shortly after Jan 1. “And then we will work expeditiously to come up with a better program than current law, because current law is simply unacceptable and not sustainable.” However, McConnell did not give an answer on a timeline for a replacement.
• Although Republicans plan to repeal much of the ACA, they say they don’t want to do any harm to the millions of people who get health coverage under the law. Health insurance consultants argue that repealing the healthcare law and “expecting that [the] insurance market [will] remain healthy may be [a] fantasy.”

Millions With Preexisting Conditions Could be Denied Coverage

A study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that “52 million non-elderly adult Americans (27% of those under the age of 65)” with a preexisting condition would be at risk of being denied coverage if they were buying a health insurance policy in the individual market prior to the ACA. So without ACA protections for preexisting conditions, this group would likely be turned downed by insurance companies if a repeal happens. More details on people at the highest risk can be found in this Kaiser Health News article.

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 12, 2016

Republicans Divided Over Obamacare Repeal

• Republicans continue to be divided on delaying an Obamacare replacement for 3 years. Some House Republicans feel that this 3-year strategy “is too long to leave voters, insurers and health care providers in suspense.” Like other GOP leaders, Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn supports President-elect Donald Trump’s healthcare plan, and he said, “We’re not going to let anybody fall through the cracks.”
• Some Republicans are pushing to keep many portions of Obamacare through 2019, while others say they see no reason to move so slowly. Republicans are battling over what exactly a replacement plan will look like and when to schedule a replacement.

Opposition to Obamacare Repeal Continues

• Possible market disruptions from Trump and the GOP’s repeal and replacement plan continue to be a major concern for groups like the American Academy of Actuaries, which wrote a letter to Republican lawmakers last week warning that insurers will pull out of state marketplaces if Obamacare is repealed.
• Insurance companies and healthcare industry groups continue to lobby against Congress and Trump over a repeal. Some insurers are saying they would have a hard time remaining in the state marketplaces if Obamacare subsidies and the individual mandate are eliminated. If Obamacare is repealed, one health insurance executive said of the individual market, “We could see a situation where no carrier would want to offer insurance.”
• Hospital lobby groups that oppose the delayed repeal-and-replace strategy project that their members would lose more than $200 billion. The country’s largest health insurance lobby group reported that its members need time to transition to new rules under a different health insurance system and assurance that there will be money from the government to fund the system. Check out this New York Times article for more backstory.

Some Physicians Oppose Tom Price as Pick for HHS Secretary

More than 4,800 physicians have signed a petition in protest of Tom Price’s nomination by Trump for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Some also feel that Price is interested in protecting physicians, and not patients. This is due in part to a 2011 bill that Price co-sponsored to limit what doctors must report about malpractice judgments, hospital discipline, and other confidential information, all of which is used by health licensing boards and hospitals when hiring medical professionals. One physician from a consumer advocacy group said, “Dr. Price is a physician who is just obviously responding to pressure from colleagues in the medical field who’d like to be exempt from being held accountable.”

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 9, 2016

Obamacare Supporter Group Wants to Block Repeal

• A coalition that supports Obamacare plans to stop Congress from doing a repeal without a simultaneous replacement. The coalition stated that “repeal and delay is no better than repeal. American families deserve to know what will happen to them before Congress acts.”
• Organizers of the coalition say their protest could include rallies in Washington, D.C., as well as the states and districts that Republicans in Congress represent. The group also plans on “mobilizing constituents, including Trump voters who would be negatively affected by repeal.”

Doctors Form Organization to Fight Trumpcare

Clinician Action Network (CAN), a group composed of healthcare providers, plans to take an active role in opposing legislation that supports Trump’s healthcare reform, as well as reform proposals from Tom Price whom Trump nominated for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). A spokesperson for CAN said, “We’re going to be very responsive to legislation that is being introduced and voted on in Congress, both at the state level and the national level.” You can get more backstory on CAN in this Huffington Post article.

Current HHS Secretary Warns About Dangers of Repeal

Current HHS secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell met with Democrats in Congress to issue a warning about the dangers of the Republicans’ repeal-and-delay strategy. Burwell stated that there would be market chaos if Obamacare is repealed but a replacement for it is delayed, which is in agreement with healthcare industry experts’ concern that insurance companies will drop out of the market.

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 8, 2016

The Uninsured Rate Could Be Higher if Obamacare Is Repealed

According to a study from the Urban Institute, if Obamacare is repealed the uninsured rate could be higher than what it was pre-Obamacare. Below are some highlights from the study.

• 8 million Americans would become uninsured, which would push the uninsured rate to 58.7 million in 2019.
• Of the 29.8 million who would become uninsured, 5 million of those people would lose coverage because of eliminating premium tax credits, Medicaid expansion, and the individual mandate. The remaining 7.3 million would lose insurance due to the collapse of the non-group insurance market.
• 82 percent of the newly uninsured would be working families.
• 9 million fewer people would have Medicaid or CHIP coverage in 2019.
• Nearly 9.3 million people who would have received tax credits for individual health insurance in 2019 would stop receiving assistance.

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 7, 2016

Many Trump Supporters at Risk of Becoming Uninsured

Non-Hispanic whites and those without college degrees are among President-elect Donald Trump’s biggest supporters who benefited the most from Obamacare. So these 2 groups are included in those most at risk of becoming uninsured if Obamacare is repealed. If a repeal happens:

• The uninsured rate would jump to 58.7 million in 2019
• 80 percent of those without college degrees would become uninsured
• 56 percent of non-Hispanic whites would lose health insurance
• 24 percent of those with some college-level education would lose coverage
• 3 in 10 high school graduates would become uninsured

Far-Right Republicans Want Obamacare Replaced Much Sooner

Trump and Republican leaders may face strong resistance from ultra-conservative House Republicans because of the delayed 3-year plan to replace Obamacare. Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC), who is elected to be the next chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, reported that the GOP’s new outlook on Obamacare is “the first big fight I see coming for the Freedom Caucus.” He also stated that any delays in replacing Obamacare until after the 2018 elections — when some Republicans hope to win seats in the Senate — “will meet with major resistance from Freedom Caucus members.” Read more on why the caucus is challenging Trump for a quicker Obamacare replacement.

Health Insurers Issue Demands Over Obamacare Repeal

• Health insurance trade groups have publicly demanded what they need from the Trump administration to remain in the state marketplaces if a repeal happens. Their demands for Trump and Congress include:A clear commitment that the government will continue subsidizing health insurance for low-income people
• Keep rules that encourage young and healthy Americans to enroll in health insurance
• CNN Money also reported more demands from insurance companies, which include:Making it harder for people to enroll in coverage outside of open enrollment periods to prevent people from only signing up for insurance when they get sick.
• Expanding risk payments to help offset the cost of care for sick enrollees.
• Preventing healthcare providers from steering patients to the individual insurance market when they could qualify for Medicaid.
• Structuring high-risk pools differently from what was in place before Obamacare—high-risk pools for those with preexisting conditions who let their coverage lapse prior to Obamacare lacked proper funding and had waiting lists.

Hospitals Warn Trump and Congress About Repealing Obamacare

The hospital industry issued a letter warning Trump and leaders in Congress that repealing Obamacare “could cost hospitals to lose $165 billion by the middle of the next decade and trigger ‘an unprecedented public health crisis.’” If the Trump administration and Congress repeal Obamacare without a simultaneous replacement, the hospital industry says that government payments to hospital groups that treat Medicare and Medicaid patients should be restored to what they were before the 2010 Affordable Care Act law.

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 6, 2016

Obamacare Lawsuit

The House Republicans’ lawsuit against Obamacare’s subsidy program has been delayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C. Circuit. A judge previously ruled that Obamacare premium tax credits were unlawful because funding did not come from Congress. And further proceedings have been delayed to give Trump’s Justice Department time to decide on settling or withdrawing the case.

• If House Republicans win the suit to get rid of premium tax credits, also called cost-sharing subsidies, it could cause insurance companies “to sharply raise premiums or exit the ACA exchange markets, since the law requires them to reduce cost-sharing burdens for eligible members in silver plans,” as this Modern Healthcare article
• Without a replacement option for cost-sharing funds, this would also prevent insurance companies from receiving payments, and companies would lose out on money they expected to receive.

ACA Repeal on the Insurance Market

GOP lawmakers are slowly coming to terms with the need to take action to protect the individual insurance market from collapse and prevent plans from exiting the market in 2018. Health plan carriers are watching to see if Republicans will delay the elimination of premium tax credits and Medicaid expansion, both of which insurance companies say are the “key to making the individual insurance business financially viable.”

Obamacare Subsidies and Republican States

Based on a premium tax credit study from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), people in Republican “red” states that Trump won may be impacted the most if subsides are eliminated because of an ACA repeal. Of the $32.8 billion in subsidies the KFF study revealed Americans received, a CNBC article points out that half of the amount went to people in 5 states: Florida, California, Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia. Except for California, Trump won these states.

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 5, 2016

Selling across state lines

Republicans want insurance companies to sell policies across state lines while only meeting the regulations of their home state. Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump’s healthcare reform say this will boost competition and allow consumers to buy plans that better suit their needs. Insurance executives say it may be costly for insurance companies to enter a new market and arrange contracts with local doctors and hospitals. Some consumer groups argue that:

• Companies may flock to states that have limited regulations for the industry, which could lead to cheaper plans with limited coverage.
• States that sell comprehensive coverage may see healthy people leaving their state marketplace to buy bare-bones plans in other states.
• If more healthy people are leaving states with comprehensive coverage, this will drive up premiums for people with health problems in those states.

You can read more about the impact of selling across state lines here.

ACA tax credits

The Kaiser Family Foundation released a study showing that Marketplace enrollees received about $32.8 billion in tax credits because of the ACA, and that this tax credit will disappear if the ACA is repealed.

Medicare

Despite some Republicans like House Speaker Paul Ryan and Tom Price (R-Ga.) proposing to privatize Medicare, Vice President-elect Mike Pence during an interview said that a Medicare overhaul is not on Trump’s healthcare agenda. Pence also stated that the first thing the Trump team has to do is get the weight of Obamacare off the back of the national economy. “We think that will create tremendous economic growth in businesses large and small, and then setting an orderly transition process in place to capture the power of the free market.”

Repealing Obamacare

• In a 60 Minutes interview, Ryan said that repealing Obamacare will be the congressional Republicans’ first priority once Trump takes office. When asked about the3-year transition plan, Ryan said, “I don’t know the answer to that right now. What we know is we have to make good on this promise. We have to bring relief as fast as possible to people who are struggling under Obamacare.” This article provides more info and a clip of the interview.
• Healthcare associations are launching effortsto save the 20 million people who have gained coverage through Obamacare. CEO of the American Hospital Association Richard Pollack wrote a letter urging Trump that any repeal of the ACA should simultaneously include a replacement plan that continues to provide affordable coverage. The American Medical Association also made similar requests that a Trump healthcare “reform proposal should not cause individuals currently covered to become uninsured.”

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 2, 2016

• Employers could slow down on hiring and investments because of unclear plans about Trump’s healthcare reform. Potential reforms could mean the loss of about 200,000 jobs in the healthcare industry. A plan to repeal and replace Obamacare could take years to achieve, which may prolong confusion for business owners.
• Americans are divided over repealing Obamacare, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey:30 percent want Obamacare to be expanded
• 26 percent want Obamacare to be repealed
• 19 percent want Obamacare to remain as is
• 17 percent want Obamacare to be scaled back
• 3 percent don’t know or want something else
• The GOP’s plan to privatize Medicare is facing resistance from the Senate because some GOP lawmakers say they’re not planning to make big changes—“at least not in the first year of the Trump administration.”

Trumpcare News Update for Dec. 1, 2016

Possible Impact of Repealing Obamacare

• Repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could lead to about 7 million fewer people with health insurance and cause out-of-pocket costs to be as high as $4,700 a year for each individual.
• Without a replacement, repealing the ACA could cause insurance companies to “abandon the individual insurance markets in 2018,” which could affect the exchange, as well as off-exchange markets. Companies may panic because people who are still in the market in 2018 could be sicker, and healthier people could leave the market because of higher premiums.
• A repeal could create a huge domino effect for hospitals, insurance companies, employers, and employees, according to this Fox Business article.

Trump’s Picks for Healthcare Leaders

• Trump picked Congressman Tom Price (R-GA), an Obamacare critic, as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
• Trump also announced Seema Verma as his pick for administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. You can get a backstory on Verma here.
• Some healthcare companies, insurers, doctor groups, and hospitals feel encouraged by the appointments. Some insurance companies that sell in both the state and federal markets feel that changes from the GOP will allow them to sell more flexible and cheaper plans.

Medicare

• Price is an advocate of Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s proposed Medicare changes, such as raising the Medicare-eligible age to 67 and giving vouchers (referred to as premium support) to Medicare beneficiaries so they can buy plans directly from insurance companies.
• Some lawmakers from both political parties feel that Price as head of the HHS could lead to major overhauls and cuts in funding, even though Trump promised to protect Medicare during his campaign.
• The GOP is pushing for major changes and cuts to Medicare to start within the first 6 to 8 months after Trump takes office. This could mean Trump’s healthcare plan would involve raising premiums and the Medicare-eligible age by 2020. The GOP is also in favor of Medicare vouchers.
• Medicare Advantage is expected to be expanded because Republicans are in favor of privatizing Medicare.

Medicaid

• Verma’s proposals for the Medicaid program in some Republican states appeal to conservatives who support things like requiring beneficiaries to pay more and be working or actively looking for work. Some critics feel that with the nominations of Verma and Price, a restructuring of the Medicaid program could be damaging and chaotic.
• Experts predict that Donald Trump’s healthcare plan will involve privatizing Medicaid, and one expert said that doing so shouldn’t be a big threat to insurance companies.
• Price has proposed a full repeal of Medicaid expansion, which would affect millions of low-income Americans. But some Republicans are looking at ways to keep certain parts of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. Ryan proposes to continue running the expansion program for states that have already expanded.
• Medicaid reform could reflect Ryan’s proposals to have either a block grant or per-capita allotment option.
• Block grants could cause 25.1 million people to lose coverage, but the grants could also help “balance the increase in the deficit if the states take measures like reducing eligibility or cutting down enrollment outreach,” as an article on 6 ways Trump could impact healthcare reform pointed out.

Preexisting Conditions

Trumpcare involves keeping certain parts of the Obamacare law on preexisting conditions, but Trump hasn’t provided a plan. Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Congressman Ryan have made some proposals on preexisting conditions in this CNN Money article.

Cost-Sharing Subsidies

• House Republicans have asked a federal appellate court to temporarily delay the case that could end ACA cost-sharing subsidies to give Trump time to put together an ACA replacement.
• Stopping subsidies could mean massive losses for insurance companies because those companies would have to pay out-of-pocket costs for each patient and not get any reimbursement from the government. Insurance companies filed a brief with the appeals court warning about “$1,000 premium increases and a market exodus by consumers and [insurance companies].”

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)

Donald Trump’s healthcare plan includes expanding the use of HSAs. “But experts say HSAs alone can’t make individual insurance coverage affordable. … The accounts work best for those who already have high incomes,” as reported in a MarketWatch article. Without cost assistance, health insurance would be out of reach, especially for those with low incomes. Experts suggest that HSAs could be a way to replace the ACA subsidies if they’re going to be funded by the government.

Prescription Drugs

• A survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that many Americans want the Trump administration to tackle high-cost drugs for chronic conditions as a top priority. Trump’s healthcare goals don’t currently align with this priority.
• Trump’s healthcare reform does include a proposal to “remove barriers to entry in free markets for drug providers that offer safe, reliable, and cheaper products,” but this goal is near the bottom of Trump’s top 8 healthcare agenda.

Women’s Health

Under Trump’s proposed healthcare plan, women could see the return of paying more for health insurance than men. Women may also lose benefits, including free contraceptives, free preventive services, and guaranteed coverage for maternity services in the individual market.

As a licensed agent with HealthMarkets, I (Robert Morgen) am sharing this article with my LinkedIn community. I serve Nevada, California, Arizona, Texas, & South Carolina as a Health Benefits Adviser.