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Trump to lunch with key senators on healthcare: As Republican senators close in on drafting their version of a healthcare bill, a number of the lawmakers who could decide the fate of one of the president’s top domestic priorities are expected to discuss the outstanding issues directly with Trump over lunch. Attendees include Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah whose vote is very much in doubt as legislation moves toward the left, as well as his traditional ally and Trump’s former rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other conservatives including Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. The president also will hear from centrists Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Centrists and conservatives have been at odds on a number of issues, including phasing out Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion and deciding how much flexibility to give to states over adopting the law’s regulations. Other attendees are Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, who has been pushing for a longer, seven-year phaseout of the Medicaid expansion. Additional guests include Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah, Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Barrasso of Wyoming, Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, which is in danger of having a number of counties with zero insurers next year.
Pence slams Obamacare, Democrats: Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday criticized Obamacare for its “ongoing collapse” and blasted Democrats for how they “won’t lift a finger to try to clean up the mess they created.” “Obamacare is collapsing. You’d have to be blinded by partisanship to believe otherwise,” said Pence, speaking at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington. He highlighted news from some insurers that have decided not to participate in the Obamacare-created exchanges in 2018, leaving customers who buy the tax-subsidized plan with few or no options to access the same coverage next year. The Pence speech, however, came just as insurer Centene said it was expanding its presence in some states.
Trump is scheduled to meet with “Obamacare victims” at 3 p.m., and he will deliver a speech about healthcare at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee at 3:10 p.m.
Don’t ask Republican senators for healthcare details: Some Republicans didn’t really have any idea what is going to be in the healthcare bill leadership wants them to vote on in a few weeks. Reporters asked Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Monday if he had any details. “None,” he quickly responded. When asked if he wanted to know more, Graham quickly said in jest a simple “no.” Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., up for re-election next year, said senators likely will get briefed Wednesday on what will be in the bill during the GOP’s routine luncheons on healthcare. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., also hadn’t seen any text yet, and he is a member of the Senate working group that has been tasked with hashing out healthcare ideas.
Senate Republicans grumble about legislative process: “I’d like a committee process,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, a key centrist vote. “I just think when you have an opportunity to flesh these things out in committees you get to a good place quicker.” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., blamed Democrats for the process. “We’re trying to do it from a one-party perspective because no Democrat is willing to help us,” he said Monday. “No, this is not the best way to do healthcare. But it’s the way we’re having to do it.” Other Republicans defended the process. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told the Washington Examiner that Senate leadership is creating a working draft that includes some of the ideas fleshed out in working groups that have met several times a week since the House bill was passed. “I think it will be more opportunity for those ideas to be out there in a transparent way,” he said.
Republicans talking to Congressional Budget Office, but no bill yet: There was some chatter Monday about Republicans sending a draft bill to the CBO, but the Washington Examiner’s Susan Ferrechio reports that Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn clarified, “There’s an ongoing conversation with CBO, but there’s no bill yet.” It’s common for bill authors to send sections to the CBO for evaluation as the bill is being written to inform themselves about how the congressional scorekeeper might estimate certain provisions.
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CMS report finds 47 counties with no Obamacare insurers: A new analysis finds that 47 counties are projected to have no Obamacare insurer next year and 1,200 will have only one. The report is the latest effort by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to outline key problems with the law’s exchanges. Administrator Seema Verma even referred to the report as “another failing report card for the exchanges.” CMS projected that at least 35,000 active exchange participants will not have an Obamcare insurer and roughly 2.4 million will have one insurer. However, the projections can change as insurers haven’t finalized rates or participation yet. Last year, a county in Arizona didn’t have any insurer in the summer, but Blue Cross Blue Shield came in to offer plans, albeit at soaring rates.
Tom Price hints favorably on Iowa’s stabilization proposal: The state, facing few insurance options next year, made a proposal public on Monday showing it was requesting $80 million in reinsurance from the federal government and asking for flexibility in deciding who would be eligible for subsidies. In a speech at the Department of Health and Human Services Tuesday, the secretary pointed to the proposal saying that Iowa was bringing forth “innovative ideas.” The Trump administration has encouraged states to offer changes to the Medicaid program and to how it delivers plans on the exchange or the individual market.
CMS head Seema Verma praises Pence: The administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services praised Pence at the same event as a someone who “became an expert on any healthcare issue we brought to him,” based on her experience working with him to craft a Medicaid proposal in Indiana under Obamacare. “He told me that our society is judged for how they care for the most needy in our society. That is something that has always stayed with me.”
Centene to expand in Obamacare: With many other insurers exiting exchanges, the health insurer said in a release that it planned to sell plans on the Obamacare exchanges in Kansas, Missouri and Nevada in 2018, and to expand in states where it already sells plans, including in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Texas and Washington. “Centene recognizes there is uncertainty of new healthcare legislation, but we are well positioned to continue providing accessible, high quality and culturally sensitive healthcare services,” Michael Neidorff, the company’s CEO, said in a statement. Centene is known for its participation in the Medicaid program, which largely covers low-income people, and the company covered 1.2 million people in exchange plans as of March 31.
Cassidy convenes insurer meeting: Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., held a meeting Monday with a group of Republican senators and several insurer groups to discuss how to stabilize the individual market, according to a source familiar with the gathering. Those attending included groups such as the Council for Affordable Health Coverage, America’s Health Insurance Plans, Anthem, American Academy of Actuaries and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Topics included stabilization measures to protect consumers in the current individual market, which is for people who don’t get insurance through work, the source said. Some of the Republican senators in attendance included Susan Collins of Maine, Dean Heller of Nevada, John Hoeven of North Dakota and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. The meeting comes as some Republican senators are hoping to create a short-term bill to shore up insurers in the individual market. The insurance industry has been clamoring for the White House to fund cost-sharing reduction payments, which reimburse insurers for lowering co-payments for low-income Obamacare beneficiaries. The White House has not made a decision to make the payments next year.
Obamacare hijacks drug price hearing: The topic of the hearing was high drug prices, but Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee took the opportunity to bash Republicans over the process for drafting a healthcare bill behind closed doors. “”I can’t say how strongly enough how unacceptable this is,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the panel’s ranking member. Other Democrats on the panel used their time during a question and answer session to criticize Republicans on drafting the bill behind closed doors HELP Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., was not pleased. He said that Democrats had requested the hearing alongside some Republicans. “You asked me the question about Obamacare, which is not the subject of today’s hearing,” Alexander said in responding to a question from Murray about hearings on the healthcare bill. “If that is the way you want to spend your time, fine.” He then had some words about the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2009 “You passed the Affordable Care Act in a snowstorm with 60 votes,” he said. Democrats have increasingly complained about the GOP process in hearings unrelated to Obamacare. Last week, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., chided Republicans during a Health and Human Services budget hearing for not holding committee hearings on the bill.
Fewer people paying for Obamacare in 2017. A new federal report shows that 10.3 million people paid their Obamacare premiums this year of the 12.2 million who signed up during open enrollment. The report released Monday, which included data through March 15, found that cost was the major driver for people dropping out. It comes as the health of Obamacare’s exchanges is being heavily scrutinized during the congressional debate over repealing the law.
FreedomWorks slams GOP healthcare talks as they shift left: “Republicans have the opportunity to save the American healthcare system, but leader Mitch McConnell must follow through on his promise to repeal Obamacare ‘root and branch,'” said FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon, quoting a comment McConnell made at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2013. “Without a forceful repeal of Obamacare we will be unable to implement the patient-centered reforms needed to save our system. It’s essential that any reform effort allows states flexibility to determine their own definitions of community rating, which, under Obamacare, undermines the entire idea of insurance as risk management. By extending Medicaid expansion to 2027, the Senate majority leader is essentially surrendering to moderates in his conference and ignoring grassroots conservatives. Barack Obama could support it going to 2027 because that means it will never be rolled back. There is still time for Senate Republicans to follow through on their campaign promises to repeal Obamacare and transform the American healthcare system to serve patients.”
AARP targets more Republicans in new healthcare ad buy. The group is targeting 11 GOP senators, including key centrists, to oppose the House-passed healthcare bill that would raise premiums for seniors. The ad campaign expands a May effort that ran ads targeting five senators, calling for the House-passed American Health Care Act to be scrapped. The expansion comes at a pivotal time as Senate leadership hopes to vote on a healthcare bill by the end of July. AARP is targeting Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Dean Heller of Nevada, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker of Tennessee, and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.
Washington Examiner Editorial: Republicans, bring your healthcare bill out for inspection. “Committee hearings or some other open, collaborative process create something like a consensus among lawmakers whose votes leadership needs. It also allows a public airing. Policymakers have an obligation to convince the public when they are changing laws and policies. Legislative leaders have an obligation to give their members the chance to propose changes, defend their proposals, and, when it is possible, hold votes on their ideas. If your idea for solving a problem doesn’t make it into the final bill, it will then be because it lost a vote and lawmakers found a different solution. This is a more acceptable way to lose than if your idea never got heard. Transparency produces support.”
Opinion: Conservatives should be more shrewd, less overt, when it comes to reducing abortions
Opinion: Obamacare repeal and replace heads back into the fire
RUNDOWN
STAT News FDA delays rule requiring new nutrition facts panel on food
Wall Street Journal Anthem’s boss faces tough choices in healthcare debate
Bloomberg America’s healthcare crisis is a gold mine for crowdfunding
Politico Senate GOP reins in expectations for killing Obamacare
New York Times John Kasich backs slower Medicaid rollout, but with more money
The Hill Insurer exits bolster GOP case for Obamacare repeal
Axios Iowa’s big ideas could be hard to implement
Washington Post Conservative groups balking at possibility of retaining Obamacare taxes
Calendar
TUESDAY | JUNE 13
5 p.m. House will vote on the Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act.
June 13-15. Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. Goldman Sachs Global Healthcare Conference. Details.
2:30 p.m. Dirksen 628. Senate Indian Affairs Committee will review bills involving the Indian Health Service and housing for Veterans Affairs. Details.
3 p.m. Trump to meet with people who say they have been hurt by Obamacare’s policies and will deliver a healthcare speech at 3:10 p.m.
WEDNESDAY | JUNE 14
June 14-15. National Library of Medicine. Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications conference on “Consequential Research: Accelerating Continuous Improvement.” Details.
8:30 a.m. PDT/11:30 EDT. Smashbox Studios. 8549 Higuera St. Culver City, Calif. Axios event on the human brain and artificial intelligence. Details.
9 a.m. Manhattan Institute event with former Sen. Tom Coburn on “Solving the drug-pricing challenge: Policy reforms to expand drug access, accelerate innovation, and grow the economy.” Details.
9 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Brookings Institution. Fostering competition in the pharmaceutical distribution chain. Details.
10:14 a.m. 2322 Rayburn. House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on CHIP reauthorization. Details.
2:30 p.m. Dirksen 106. Special Committee on Aging Hearing on “Military Caregivers: Families Serving for the Long Run.” Details.
THURSDAY | JUNE 15
8:30 a.m. 1101 K St. NW. Bloomberg Law event on “Affordable Care Act repeal and replace: Now what?” Details.
10 a.m. Dirksen 138. Senate appropriations hearing on Department of Health and Human Services budget. Details.
MONDAY | JUNE 19
June 19-22. San Diego Convention Center. 111 W Harbor Dr. Biotechnology Innovation Organization annual convention. Details.
