Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Poll: Health Care Should Be Trump's Top Priority During First 100 Days
Healthcare is the top issue Americans want Donald Trump to address during his first 100 days in the White House, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday, an apparent rebuke of outgoing President Barack Obama's signature reform, Obamacare. Some 21 percent of Americans want Trump to focus on the healthcare system when he enters the White House on Jan. 20, according to the Nov. 9-14 poll, conducted in the week after the Republican won the U.S. presidential election. (Khan, 11/17)
While it's pretty much a given that the Affordable Care Act won't survive a Trump presidency and Republican Congress in its current form, there are sweeping implications of reversing a law that has reached in so many ways into our health care system. The government has never undone a major benefits program after it has taken effect — and neither the incoming administration nor GOP lawmakers know exactly how they'll replace it. (Cha and Goldstein, 11/17)
And in other health law news —
Just as open enrollment for Obamacare in 2017 wraps up in January, a newly elected president and Congress will try to unravel the insurance program. So should you bother signing up at all? And if you like your coverage at the start of 2017, will you be able to keep it through 2017? Yes and probably yes, say healthcare authorities. (Koff, 11/17)
Despite double-digit rate hikes taking effect Jan. 1, customers of Connecticut’s health insurance exchange who already picked plans for 2017 and qualify for subsidized coverage will, on average, save a few bucks on their monthly premiums, according to figures released Thursday by Access Health CT, the exchange. (Levin Becker, 11/17)
Last week’s election results stunned a lot of people who get health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act. President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress say they want to scrap the law, but what might replace it remains unknown. That has left some Missouri and Kansas families in limbo, unsure what will become of their medical care. (Smith, 11/17)