Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Increasing Numbers Gain Coverage Under Obamacare, GOP Faces Dilemma
There鈥檚 growing evidence that most of the dramatic gain in the number of Americans with health care coverage is due to President Barack Obama鈥檚 law, and not the gradual recovery of the nation鈥檚 economy. That could pose a political risk for Republicans running against 鈥淥bamacare鈥 in the GOP primaries as they shift to the general election later this year. While the health care law remains highly unpopular in the party, the prospect of taking away health care coverage from millions of people could trigger a backlash if the eventual GOP nominee鈥檚 plan to replace it is seen as coming up short. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/21)
Big companies are pushing back against proposed federal rules they say would require their medical plans to cover gender transition and other services under the nondiscrimination mandate of President Barack Obama's health care law. Civil rights advocates representing transgender people say the regulation, now being finalized by the Health and Human Services Department, would be a major step forward for a marginalized community beginning to gain acceptance as celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner tell their stories. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/22)
The Obama administration is trying once again to address a criticism that has dogged the president ever since his health care bill passed six years ago: they need to sell it better. And this time, they鈥檙e paying a lot more attention to the medical side 鈥 the parts that no one outside of a narrow circle of health care wonks really understands. (Scott, 3/22)
A controversial federal health program that helps insurers withstand the ebbs and flows of the new insurance exchanges will be put under the microscope this week with the hope of making it fairer in the long term. The CMS will host a public meeting Friday in which health insurers, state officials and others will offer their input on how to change the Affordable Care Act's risk-adjustment methodology for 2018 and beyond. Under the permanent risk-adjustment program, which is a zero-sum game, the federal government redistributes money from plans that have lower-cost, healthier members to companies that have higher-cost, sicker members. (Herman, 3/19)
