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HOW TRUMP COULD EXPAND OBAMACARE: A new health insurance option from the Trump administration could help Obamacare achieve the influx of customers that has long escaped it and also lay the groundwork for either a conservative or a liberal overhaul to the system.
Under the rule, released in June, employers have the option of forgoing coverage for their workers in favor of giving them a pot of tax-free money known as health reimbursement arrangements, or HRAs, that they can use to buy their own health insurance.
The administration estimates that 11 million people will use the HRAs to buy Obamacare plans by 2029. Such a climb would greatly shake up the individual market, which has roughly 16 million people in it now, and help stabilize the exchanges as long as there are a mix of healthy and sick.
The provision appeals to conservatives because it allows patients to have more choice and gets closer to the goal of disentangling health insurance from employment.
But the influx could also benefit more liberal policy goals. More robust enrollment paves the way for a future Democratic Congress and president to set up a government plan for individual market customers to buy instead of private insurance.
“If this really works the way that the administration thinks this is going to work, it could strengthen the depth of the individual market, which increases the space for what anyone wants to do,” whether liberal or conservative, said David Anderson, a healthcare researcher at Duke University’s Margolis Center for Health Policy.
Read more from my latest magazine piece.
Good morning and welcome to the Washington Examiner’s Daily on Healthcare! This newsletter is written by senior healthcare reporter Kimberly Leonard (@LeonardKL) and healthcare reporter Cassidy Morrison (@CassMorrison94). You can reach us with tips, calendar items, or suggestions at [email protected]. If someone forwarded you this email and you’d like to receive it regularly, you can subscribe here.
FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP RULE FORCING DRUGMAKERS TO DISPLAY PRICES IN TV ADS: A federal judge ruled against a Trump administration rule late Monday that would compel drug manufacturers to display prices in TV ads.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., took the side of Amgen, Merck, and Eli Lilly in his decision that the Department of Health and Human Services does not have the authority to implement the rule, slated to take effect Tuesday.
Mehta said that while the measure to increase transparency is valuable and necessary, only Congress, not HHS, can authorize the rule and act on rising drug prices.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar introduced the transparency rule May 8, saying to pharmaceutical companies, “Put it in the TV ads. Patients have a right to know, and if you’re ashamed of your drug prices, change your drug prices. It’s that simple.”
The drugmakers said in their suit that displaying prices would not better educate those with insurance or take into account discounts negotiated between insurers and pharmacy benefit measures. They said the wholesale prices would only confuse consumers and may even dissuade them from seeking medical attention.
Following the judge’s decision, HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said that while the department is disappointed in the judge’s ruling, it will work further with the Department of Justice on the next steps to take regarding litigation against drug manufacturers.
OBAMACARE ORAL ARGUMENTS START SOON: Oral arguments for Texas v. U.S., the case that seeks to invalidate Obamacare, will kick off at 1 p.m. central on Tuesday in New Orleans. Each side will have 45 minutes of oral arguments.
Democrats say Republicans will need to come up with a fix if Obamacare is struck down: In a call with reporters Monday, Democratic senators said that Republicans in Congress would be responsible for coming up with an alternative. They declined to specify whether they would support reinstating the fine to $1 as a nominal amount to work around the ruling, or whether they should pass a bill with clarifying language saying that the zeroing out of the fine didn’t necessitate the rest of the law being struck down. “The burden will be on them to come up with a solution,” said Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat.
CAP says ruling against Obamacare would be ‘immediate and devastating’: On average, about 45,600 more people would be uninsured in each congressional district and D.C. if Obamacare were fully repealed, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the left-leaning Center for American Progress. The coverage losses would amount to roughly 20 million people and would be highest in the states that chose to expand Medicaid. “States stand to lose billions of dollars in funding for their populations, and individuals would face higher health care costs, greater financial vulnerability, and the prospect of losing coverage altogether,” wrote the authors of the analysis.
DSCC LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN TO TARGET REPUBLICANS OVER ACA LAWSUIT: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee launched ads Tuesday targeting nine GOP senators up for reelection in 2020, tying them to the lawsuit aimed at undoing Obamacare. Stuart Boss, DSCC Press Secretary, wrote Monday night: “As Republicans go to court to end protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions, GOP senators running in 2020 should consider themselves on notice. Every Republican Senator helped pass the reckless tax handout that made this lawsuit possible.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE GOVERNOR SIGNS LAW TO DELAY MEDICAID WORK REQUIREMENTS: New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed a bill into law Monday that would delay the Medicaid work requirement compliance deadline to September. The requirements were enacted last month. The law also reduces the number of hours that must be spent working, volunteering, or going to school from 100 to 80 hours per month.
During the first month of requiring residents of New Hampshire to work for coverage, about 16,874 people had not complied with the new work requirements. When the requirements were enacted, state officials alerted Medicaid enrollees through radio ads and direct texts. The governor said Monday that those efforts had not effectively reached beneficiaries. Part of the new measure includes going door-to-door to let Medicaid beneficiaries know about the new September deadline to report compliance with the work requirements.
MEASLES CASES KEEP CLIMBING: As of July 3, the number of confirmed measles cases reached 1,109, which is an increase of 14 cases from the previous week. Cases have been confirmed in 28 states, and the count is the highest since 1992.
CASES OF A DEATHLY MIDDLE EAST RESPIRATORY VIRUS TRANSMITTED FROM CAMELS HAVE DECLINED: The World Health Organizations reported a decline in cases in the Arabian peninsula of the fatal respiratory virus, MERS-CoV that is spread by contact with camels. Researchers found that, since 2012, with reduced human-to-camel and human-to-human contact, about 293 deaths were avoided globally. In parts of the Arabian peninsula, camels are often used as a mode of transportation. In 2016, which saw 1,465 cases, between 300 and 500 deaths were prevented thanks to global efforts to curb the spread. The virus was first identified in a person in the Arabian Peninsula, and spread in the region and throughout the world.
COUPLE GIVES BIRTH TO ANOTHER COUPLE’S TWINS AFTER IVF MISHAP: A Queens couple identified as A.P. and Y.Z. filed suit against California-based CHA Fertility Clinic for implanting the wrong embryos from two different couples in the wrong mother.
A.P. and Y.Z. spent over $100,000 on IVF treatments, including traveling to the clinic in California, having spent six years trying to get pregnant. When the mother, A.P., gave birth in March, she saw two boys who did not look remotely Asian like their parents. The clinic performed genetic testing, which confirmed the babies shared no relation to the couple. In the end, the couple had to give up the newborn babies to the couples to whom the babies were related, having served as unwitting surrogates the entire time.
The Rundown
CNN Joe Biden on Obamacare and Medicare for All: ‘Starting over would be, I think, a sin’
Politico Juul arms to fight sweeping e-cig ban on its home turf
The Washington Post Hospices go unpunished for reported maggots and uncontrolled pain, watchdog finds
The Associated Press Kansas judge won’t give go-ahead for telemedicine abortions
CBS DFW Researchers Study Brains Of People Who Donate Their Kidneys To Strangers
California Healthline Medi-Cal enrollment among immigrant kids stalls, then falls. Is fear to blame?
Calendar
TUESDAY | July 9
Congress in session.
July 8-9. Meeting of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Details.
July 9-11. Orlando. National Association of County and City Health Officials annual conference. Details.
1 p.m. Central. New Orleans. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear Texas v. United States. Details.
Noon. Hart 216. Alliance for Health Policy event on “Coverage and Affordability in the Private Insurance Market.” Details.
WEDNESDAY | July 10
9:30 a.m. Dirksen 106. Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on “Redefining Reality: How the Special Diabetes Program is Changing the Lives of Americans with Type 1 Diabetes.” Details.
10 a.m. 2154 Rayburn. Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on “The Trump Administration’s Attack on the ACA: Reversal in Court Case Threatens Healthcare for Millions of Americans.” Details.
2 p.m. HVC 210. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee hearing on “The Cost of Caring.” Details.
THURSDAY | July 11
10 a.m. 2154 Rayburn. House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on “Identifying, Preventing, and Treating Childhood Trauma: A Pervasive Public Health Issue that Needs Greater Federal Attention.” Details.
10:15 a.m. Rayburn 2175. House Education and Labor Committee Workforce Protections Subcommittee hearing on “From the Fields to the Factories: Preventing Workplace Injury and Death from Excessive Heat.” Details.
