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WEST VIRGINIA LOOKS AT OBAMACARE RESCUE PACKAGE: West Virginia officials have signed onto a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate all of Obamacare, but the looming election has them thinking about ways to keep the healthcare law’s popular provisions in place.
This week, Republican West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who signed onto the anti-Obamacare lawsuit, previewed a bill he’ll introduce with state Senate President Mitch Carmichael that would maintain some of Obamacare’s protections for pre-existing conditions by prohibiting insurers from turning away the sick and by mandating they cover certain services.
The bill, the Healthcare Continuity Act, is set to come up in Gov. Jim Justice’s State of the State address Wednesday night. Justice, who is up for re-election in November, was elected as a Democrat and switched to Republican.
The bill he’ll bring up Wednesday looks to mimic legislation first passed in Louisiana, where GOP Attorney General Jeff Landry and Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards clashed over Obamacare but did come to an agreement ahead of the 2019 elections for a healthcare backup plan.
Should Obamacare be invalidated, then Louisiana would use a model similar to what Maine once had that was known as “invisible risk sharing,” which set customers up with plans that they didn’t realize were subsidized by the state.
West Virginia, Morrissey said, would look to enact a similar fund to set up invisible risk sharing, but he said it was too soon to know what costs would be involved. Despite introducing the latest bill, Morrisey said he “stands by” his decision to challenge the constitutionality of Obamacare.
The funding piece is key. Louisiana and West Virginia are unique in subscribing to the invisible risk sharing idea, but most states that have considered or passed protections for pre-existing conditions haven’t attached any funding to their plans. The thing about Obamacare was that it didn’t just mandate protections, it offered billions of dollars in subsidies to pay for more expensive health insurance that comes as a result of creating such robust coverage. Without the help, millions of people wouldn’t be able to afford the health insurance — in fact, millions already can’t afford Obamacare because subsidies only extend to certain people — making the protections moot to them.
Here’s the pricetag for states: According to Kaiser Family Foundation data, the federal government in 2017 shells out more than $57 billion a year to help 9.2 million people pay for private health insurance through Obamacare’s marketplaces. It also pays for most of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, about $56 billion to allow almost 13 million poor people to get government coverage. States would have to massively raise taxes to make up the difference in funding.
According to numbers run by Charles Gaba, founder of ACAsignups.net, West Virginia alone would need to raise an additional additional $1 billion to cover people in a similar way as Obamacare.
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.
20-WEEK ABORTION BAN VERSUS IMPEACHMENT: Anti-abortion groups are hoping for a vote in the Senate this month on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the legislation banning abortion after 20 weeks of gestation, but they know that impeachment proceedings threaten to get in the way. We checked with staff of the lead sponsor of the bill, Lindsey Graham, who confirmed that a vote would depend on when and if the House delivers the articles of impeachment.
Anti-abortion groups are pressing for the vote to happen close to the March for Life rally, which is set for Jan. 24. Last year’s vote failed 51-46 as Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined all but three Democrats in voting against the bill. Democrats voting in favor were Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, and Joe Donnelly of Indiana.
CANCER MORTALITY RATE DROPPED ALMOST 30% OVER 25 YEARS: From 1991 to 2016, the cancer death rate fell 27%, according to reports in the American Cancer Society’s journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The lower mortality rate means that in 25 years, 2.6 million deaths have been avoided.
Mortality rates for lung, breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers – the most common types of cancers – have each declined markedly. For instance, lung cancer death rates declined 48% from 1990 to 2016 for men and 23% for women from 2002 to 2016. Researchers say the continuous decline in cancer deaths “is primarily the result of steady reductions in smoking and advances in early detection and treatment, which are reflected in the rapid declines for the 4 major cancers.”
MILLIONS ARE LIFTED OFF FOOD STAMPS THANKS TO ‘BOOMING ECONOMY’: Nearly 8 million people have come off food stamp rolls during Trump’s tenure, a development the administration claims as an accomplishment attributable to its economic stewardship and that it hopes to advance via reforms to the program.
Democrats and anti-poverty advocates, though, warn that the administration’s proposals would take away food stamps from people who need them and in fact are already discouraging needy people from applying for benefits.
TENNESSEE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES WIN PAID FAMILY LEAVE BENEFITS: Republican Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday that, starting March 1, employees in the state government’s executive branch who have been on the job for at least one year will be entitled to up to 12 weeks of paid family leave. Republican House Majority Leader William Lamberth said, according to the Associated Press: “Whether private business does this or not is entirely up to them, because we are a very business friendly state.”
Democrats in the Tennessee state legislature have been working hard for such a policy to reach private sector workers, though. Democratic Sen. Sara Kyle said: “If paid family leave is the right thing to do for thousands of state employees, it’s even better that we do it for the millions of private sector workers in Tennessee who deserve the same opportunity to bond with a new child and care for their sick relatives without going broke.” Tennessee is now one of 10 states, which includes Washington, D.C., to have a paid family leave policy on the books.
SUPERVISED INJECTION SITE TEAM PRESSES FEDERAL JUDGE FOR FINAL APPROVAL: The legal team for what could be the nation’s first supervised drug injection site, a Philadelphia non-profit organization called Safehouse, is urging a federal judge to give the venture his final stamp of approval, WHYY reported Tuesday. Ronda Goldfein, a Safehouse board and legal team member said that the organization needs a federal judge to make the operation of a supervised injection clinic legal before staff can open its doors.
How we got here: Back in October, Federal Judge Gerald McHugh ruled in favor of Safehouse in a case against U.S. Attorney William McSwain, who said the organization would be in violation of the Controlled Substances Act’s 1980s provision known as the “crackhouse statute,” which makes it illegal to manage a site for the purpose of using illegal drugs. The ruling did not say, however, that the team could legally open the center without expecting a reprisal from the federal government. Therefore, Goldfein and the Safehouse board filed the motion Monday urging McHugh to issue a declaratory judgement.
The Rundown
American Prospect What Medicare for All really looks like
Los Angeles Times U.S. health system costs four times more to run than Canada’s single-payer system
The Hill Conservative group to spend $4M attacking Pelosi’s drug pricing plan
Des Moines Register Gov. Kim Reynolds wants Iowa to have more ‘teeth’ in making sure Medicaid providers are paid on time
The Washington Post Major drugstore chains sue doctors in sprawling federal opioid case
Tampa Bay Times Thousands of opioid deaths are never counted by feds, USF study says
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | Jan. 8
Congress in session.
10 a.m. 2322 Rayburn. House Energy and Commerce hearing on “Legislation to Improve Americans’ Health Care Coverage and Outcomes.” Tune in.
10 a.m. 1225 I St. NW. Bipartisan Policy Center’s 20/20 Health Care Series: A Snapshot of Early Primary Voters. Details.
TUESDAY | Jan. 14
10 a.m. Rayburn 2123. House Energy and Commerce’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing on “A Public Health Emergency: State Efforts to Curb the Opioid Crisis.” Details.
WEDNESDAY | Jan. 15
Noon. Cato Institute event on “Needle Exchange Programs: Benefits and Challenges,” with Surgeon General Jerome Adams. Details.
