Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
House Republicans Ask Court To Pause Case Over Health Law's 'Insurer Bailout'
To buy President-elect Donald Trump time to craft an Affordable Care Act replacement, House Republicans have asked a federal appellate court to delay considering the Obama administration's appeal in a case that could end some payments to health plans and throw the individual insurance market into chaos. The House Republicans' general counsel filed a motion Thursday to temporarily hold in abeyance all briefings in the appeal of a federal district court's May ruling in House v. Burwell that the Obama administration illegally compensated insurers for reducing low-income enrollees' cost-sharing responsibilities. A district judge nominated by President George W. Bush unexpectedly held that the payments were unconstitutional because Congress had not appropriated the money. (Meyer, 11/21)
The Republican-led House of Representatives is asking the federal appeals court in Washington to delay consideration of a case involving the Obama health care law because Donald Trump has pledged to repeal and replace it when he becomes president. The House won a ruling in U.S. district court that held the administration is illegally subsidizing medical bills for millions of people while ignoring congressional power over government spending. (11/21)
The House argues that Obamacare did not properly fund the health care law鈥檚 payments to health insurance companies to help low-income people pay for their out-of-pocket health care costs. The Obama administration argues that the subsidies were properly funded. If Trump鈥檚 Justice Department doesn鈥檛 continue to defend Obamacare, the subsidies mght be eliminated almost immediately. That鈥檚 because the lower court had already sided with the House, ruling that the health care law didn鈥檛 properly fund the subsidies. (Haberkorn, 11/21)
New York improperly used as much as $150 million in grants to set up its insurance exchange under President Barack Obama's health care law and help people enroll for coverage, according to a federal audit released Tuesday. The Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services said in the report provided to The Associated Press that the state used inflated population figures to claim funding, effectively saying every New Yorker would benefit from coverage through the exchange. (Walsh, 11/22)
