The compromise tax bill emerging from Republican efforts in Congress appears to have jettisoned a number of contentious health-related changes. Still, it seems likely lawmakers will repeal the penalties for not having health insurance. That so-called individual mandate was considered a linchpin of the Affordable Care Act, but now it seems possible the rest of the health law could survive without it.
This week鈥檚 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥� guests are:
Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News
Joanne Kenen of Politico
Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo
Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times
They discuss these topics and other health news of the week, including the end of open enrollment for 2018 health insurance in most of the country.
Among takeaways from this week鈥檚 podcast:
- It looks like the Republican tax bill will not take away Americans鈥� ability to deduct high medical expenses 鈥� in fact, lawmakers might temporarily make the deduction more generous.
- The bill to restore the cost-sharing subsidies that helped some very low-income Americans pay for their out-of-pocket expenses appears to be losing steam as many people wonder if it鈥檚 too late.
- Is the glass half-full or half-empty? With the Trump administration鈥檚 changes to the ACA enrollment process, sign-ups could easily be lower than last year 鈥� but even with those challenges, millions of people are enrolling.
- Medicaid officials could announce their decision soon on whether to implement work requirements for nondisabled adults in the program. Such a move, though, is sure to be highly litigated.
Plus, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥� the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Julie Rovner: Kaiser Health News鈥� 鈥�
Hospitals Find Asthma Hot Spots More Profitable To Neglect Than Fix,鈥� by Jay Hancock, Rachel Bluth and Daniel Trielli.
Joanne Kenen: The Naples News鈥� 鈥�,鈥� by Maria Perez.
Alice Ollstein: Vox.com鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Nicholas Bagley
Margot Sanger-Katz: The New York Times鈥� 鈥�,鈥� by Margot Sanger-Katz and Haeyoun Park.
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