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Obamacare watchers brace for glitches ahead of expected last-minute signup surge. A wave of signups typically occurs during open enrollment’s closing days because customers tend to procrastinate and in the past, surges have created glitches that get in the way of people signing up. “In the last week before the deadline every year since we have had open enrollment, people tend to wait until just before the deadline,” said Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation, speaking at a Facebook live event to help consumers. “Like any other website, when it gets busy and a lot of people are trying to hit it at the same time the website can slow down.” Pollitz said in the past the site sent customers to a “waiting room” during peak periods, where a screen notifies users that the site is overloaded and allows them to begin perusing health plans as they wait. “I haven’t actually seen the waiting room this year,” Pollitz said, but added that the site may ask users to leave contact information so they can return to the website when it is moving faster. Lori Lodes, who ran Obamacare outreach under the Obama administration, said that the website and call center get backed up during the final days. In the past, if people are calling about plans over the phone, an automated message would allow them to leave their information to receive a call back. “This high consumer demand jeopardizes consumers having a smooth experience,” Lodes said. During the Obama administration, consumers who started their application but didn’t finish it in time because of website issues received a grace period. Kelley Turek, executive director of employer and commercial policy at America’s Health Insurance Plans, said the same should not be assumed this year. “In the past there have been different decisions made about extensions,” she said during a Facebook Live event Monday. “I would not assume that there would be an extension this year. Let’s look at Dec. 15 as the deadline.”
White House thinks tax bill more popular than polls show. White House officials say tax reform is more popular than many recent polls suggest and have been highlighting broad support for the concept of reforming the tax code in conversations with lawmakers, Kellyanne Conway said on Monday. “Americans agree with this, the basic premise of it,” Conway, counselor to President Trump, told the Washington Examiner in an interview. “We see when the polls are responsibly constructed and that they cure information underload by providing specifics and facts … it tends to drive support up.” Conway, herself a longtime pollster, said some of the recent polls that have shown low support for the Republican tax plan have surveyed fewer Republicans than Democrats, suggesting the results could skew to the left. For example, she cited a Quinnipiac University poll whose respondents were 33 percent Democratic and 21 percent Republican — a 12-point difference she said could explain the poll’s finding that most Americans think the plan will primarily benefit the wealthy. Conway said the partisan characterization of the tax plan also has shaped public perception of it. “This is always being seen as a Trump tax plan, and he’s obviously very involved. He and the vice president leaned all the way in from the get-go. But he executes the laws, he doesn’t make them,” she said. “At the same time, I think some of these pollsters try to just put his name in it to bring it down or say the ‘Republican tax plan’ … We’ve never really looked at it that way. It’s the congressional tax plan and the Democrats are welcome to vote for it, too.”
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Long-term deal for children’s insurance program unlikely in next spending deal. It is unlikely Congress will adopt a long-term reauthorization for the Children’s Health Insurance Program in a short-term continuing resolution to fund the government after the current one expires Dec. 22. A source familiar with the matter told the Washington Examiner that it appears likely there will be a short-term measure to help prop up the program as opposed to a years-long reauthorization. The comments come as several lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed an interest for funding for CHIP by the end of the year. There are talks to pass another continuing resolution to keep the government open into January, but it is unlikely that a long-term reauthorization for CHIP would be included. Instead, the measure would be something “smaller in scope,” the source said. The source said it isn’t clear whether there will be short-term CHIP funding for states or more flexibility in the Dec. 22 continuing resolution for the Trump administration to shuffle around more funding for states.
Democrats call for extension to Obamacare open enrollment. Top Senate Democrats are calling for the Trump administration to extend the duration of Obamacare’s open enrollment, which ends for most states on Friday. Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are calling for the administration to extend open enrollment for healthcare.gov, which is used by 39 states and the District of Columbia, from Dec. 15 to Jan. 31. That was the date that last year’s open enrollment ended, but the Trump administration decided to cut the enrollment period for the 2018 coverage year in half. The Democrats say the moves, with cuts to outreach and ad funding, are part of a concerted effort by the administration to sabotage Obamacare’s exchanges. While healthcare.gov’s open enrollment period ends Friday, some state-run Obamacare exchanges have extended their period. For instance, California’s open enrollment ends Jan. 31.
Sen. Lamar Alexander: Obamacare bill a ‘Christmas present’ for Americans. The Tennessee Republican said a bill to stabilize Obamacare’s markets would be a great Christmas present for people being hit with increases in their insurance premiums. But it is not clear if the House will go along with bringing up the bill or say “bah humbug” to the whole thing.The bill from Alexander and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., would make payments to Obamacare insurers for two years in exchange for states having more latitude to waive the law’s insurer regulations. “We are entering the Christmas season,” Alexander told reporters Monday. “It still seems very hard to imagine that Congress would not give a Christmas present of an 18 percent reduction in health insurance rates if we could do that.” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she received a commitment from President Trump and GOP Senate leadership that the bill and another that gives $10 billion in reinsurance funding would become law by the end of the year.
House Republicans urge sticking with repeal of individual mandate in tax reform. House Republicans on Monday urged congressional leaders to include the repeal of the individual mandate penalty in the final version of the tax bill. “Including language to repeal this harmful policy will return personal decisions about healthcare choices to patients, fulfilling a key promise we have made to the American people,” nearly 70 House Republicans wrote in a letter to leading negotiators of the tax bill, called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. They called the individual mandate the “worst example of the federal government violating individual freedom and liberty.” The details of the final bill must be hashed out in conference and then voted on again before heading to Trump, who supports repealing the mandate penalties.
Obamas urge customers to sign up for Obamacare in final days of open enrollment. Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama on Monday urged Obamacare customers to sign up for coverage ahead of the open enrollment deadline Friday. “Just got off a call to thank folks who are working hard to help more Americans across the country sign up for health coverage,” the former president tweeted. “But it’s up to all of us to help spread the word: Sign up through this Friday at HealthCare.gov.”
Republicans express frustration over law involving seizing of opioids. Republican senators on Tuesday showed deep frustration over why lawmakers and involved agencies had not raised concerns about a law that critics now say hamstrings the Drug Enforcement Agency’s ability to go after suspicious prescribing of opioids. The 2016 law, called the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act, has come under scrutiny following reports in the Washington Post and “60 Minutes” that say Congress made it more difficult for DEA and the Department of Justice to freeze shipments of mass amounts of opioids. “The last few months have been deeply frustrating to me,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, during a Judiciary Committee hearing. “I wish some of my colleagues would stop trying to rewrite history or pretend this is some short of show game.”
Virginia to notify families that children’s health insurance program is running out of money. Virginia health officials sent letters to families Monday to warn them that the government-funded healthcare program for children will run out of money if it isn’t funded by Congress by Jan. 31. Virginia is the third state to warn families of the potential loss of services.
Trump administration to launch ‘massive’ media campaign to fight opioid crisis. The Trump administration is running ads about drug use as part of an “Rx Awareness” pilot program that began in September in parts of Kentucky, Ohio, Massachusetts, and New Mexico that have high rates of addiction. The program, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is set to run for 14 months as health officials evaluate if the ads are reaching the right audiences and how to boost messaging on those that are working. Trump recently joined the effort by donating his third-quarter salary of $100,000 to build off the ad campaign. Creating an “aggressive media campaign” on the dangers of drugs and framing it as a disease rather than a moral failing is one of 56 recommendations laid out by the opioid commission he created, which is led by outgoing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The larger ad campaign to come will be “massive,” Trump vowed as he delivered a speech in October directing his administration to declare the crisis a public health emergency. But the administration has not said how much it will spend on the larger campaign.
Trump’s transgender military ban enters a new legal thicket. Trump announced in July that transgender troops would no longer be allowed to serve in any capacity in the military. But almost half a year later, and after numerous legal motions, the Pentagon is poised to begin accepting new transgender troops for the first time beginning Jan. 1. The turnaround shows how the Trump administration has been hit with a series of early legal setbacks as it tries to defend the president’s ban from federal lawsuits by transgender troops and rights groups, and that this round of challenges and responses is only the beginning. So far, judges have sided with opponents of the ban in two federal lawsuits. The initial rulings have frozen Trump’s transgender policy orders and ordered Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who is also a target of the suits, to start the enlistments. Two other courts were also set to rule on injunctions.
Special election to replace Arizona GOP Rep. Trent Franks announced for April. A special election to replace Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks will be held in April, with a primary on Feb. 27. Gov. Doug Ducey issued a proclamation Monday setting the date of the special election for April 24. Franks, one of the most vocal anti-abortion advocates in Congress, resigned last week amid accusations he discussed surrogacy with staff members. Franks originally said he would resign Jan. 31, as the House Ethics Committee said it would investigate potential harassment. But on Friday, after more details of his alleged behavior came to light, he said his resignation would be effective immediately.
Murray bashes Trump for being a ‘hindrance’ to tackling high drug prices. The Washington Democrat said the Trump administration has hindered real reforms aimed at lowering high drug prices, including an effort to cut a popular program that pays for drugs at hospitals. Murray also criticized Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, who is a former executive at drugmaker Eli Lilly. Her comments came during the latest hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on drug prices on Tuesday. “Just as we need industry to play a more active role, this administration has to be more of an active participant and not a hindrance,” Murray said Tuesday.
‘Evergreening’ focal point yet again. Cracking down on a practice to let brand name drug makers extend their monopolies on certain drugs received bipartisan support during the HELP Committee hearing. The hearing featured questions on the practice called evergreening, in which a drugmaker gets a new patent for a slight modification to a brand name drug and extend its monopoly, which stifles competition from generics. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called for legislation to clamp down on high drug prices. “I think the evergreening is a big thing and we have to come to a bipartisan agreement where we say where patents end,” he said. Evergreening was a major topic during Azar’s confirmation hearing, as Eli Lilly is one of only a few companies to hold a patent on insulin, a drug that has existed since the 1920s. The company has held onto the patent through evergreening, and it raised insulin prices while Azar was at the helm.
RUNDOWN
The Hill GOP under pressure on bond issue in tax bill
Axios Weighing the benefits and risks of birth control
Washington Post Roy Moore is a nightmare for abortion foes
STAT News The data are in, but the debate rates: Are hospital readmission penalties a good idea?
Kaiser Health News Experts tell Congress how to cut drug prices
New York Times An Obamacare surprise in the mail: New insurers and new costs
NPR Parents worry Congress won’t fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program
Bloomberg Hospitals are merging to face off with insurers
Calendar
TUESDAY | Dec. 12
Dec. 9-12. Atlanta. American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting. Details.
Dec. 12. AARP Family Caregiving Summit. Details.
WEDNESDAY | Dec. 13
10 a.m. 430 Dirksen. Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the 21st Century Cures Act focusing on mental health needs. Details.
10 a.m. Rayburn 2123. House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on “Examining the Drug Supply Chain.” Details.
THURSDAY | Dec. 14
9 a.m. Ronald Reagan Building. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission to host public meeting. Details.
