Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Under Trump, Privately Run Health Care Plans Favored Over ACA And Medicaid
For healthcare companies, Donald Trump鈥檚 victory means very different things depending on which part of the sector they operate in. For firms offering plans in the exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), as well as Medicaid plans, it could be bad news. That explains why Oscar Health, which derives most of its business from Obamacare marketplaces, was down 8% Wednesday morning while Centene, a big Medicaid operator, was down 5%. But for businesses operating in Medicare Advantage, the privately run system that mainly serves seniors, a Republican victory is expected to provide major regulatory benefits. (Wainer, 11/6)
Donald Trump鈥檚 re-election rippled through the health-care landscape as the new administration is expected to pull back on Biden-era measures affecting US health insurers, drug prices and public-health leadership. Insurers focused on the Medicare market jumped on the expectation that the government will pay higher rates to companies that provide private versions of the US health program for seniors. (Tozzi, Mufarech, and Smith, 11/6)
With Donald Trump now poised to become U.S. president for the second time in January, biotech and pharmaceutical leaders are preparing for the shift to an administration with a complicated history. Trump has positioned himself as business-friendly, but has criticized 鈥淏ig Pharma鈥 over high drug costs. During the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, he was supportive of the pharmaceutical industry鈥檚 efforts to develop vaccines, but his campaign has more recently embraced vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (DeAngelis, Herper, Joseph, Mast and Silverman, 11/6)
In the last four years, California has adopted some of the nation鈥檚 most innovative air regulations, including a ban on new gasoline-powered car sales by 2035 and a prohibition against diesel-fueled trucks visiting state ports and railyards in 2036. However, many of these rules, which were approved by the California Air Resources Board, have not been approved by the Biden administration and now face outright rejection by the incoming Trump administration. (Briscoe, 11/6)
