7/28/2017

GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/PHARMA: “Senate Republicans’ failure to pass their limited health bill is a relief for health insurers, but it leaves the companies struggling with increasingly urgent questions as they make decisions about participating in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges.
Insurers had already been pressing for legislation aimed at stabilizing the marketplaces, an idea that is likely to now move into the spotlight with the apparent collapse of Republicans’ efforts to repeal the ACA, also known as Obamacare. But it’s not clear that any bill can move forward fast enough to affect the markets for next year, as insurers must file rates by mid-August and make final decisions about participation by late September…
The industry had opposed the Senate bill voted down early Friday [7-28-17] partly because it would kill the ACA’s requirement for individuals to have insurance, which they say is important in prodding young, healthy enrollees into the markets. However, many companies have said that even if Congress never formally repeals the coverage mandate, they fear the Trump administration won’t strongly enforce it—or consumers will ignore it, figuring that it will likely be toothless…
Insurers have been equally focused on other policy moves that they say are vital to propping up the exchanges. Most urgently, they want a guarantee that the federal government will continue making payments that reduce out-of-pocket costs for low-income ACA enrollees. Without those payments, insurers say that premiums will be far higher, and more companies may simply pull out of the exchanges. The industry also wants new funding aimed at blunting the cost of covering the sickest consumers.
With their ideas getting little traction so far in Congress, insurers have been issuing increasingly-public warnings about the consequences of inaction.”

-Anna Wilde Mathews, “Insurers Relieved as ‘Skinny’ Health Bill Fails but Warn of Rising Rates, Exits From Exchanges,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 28, 2017 04:48am