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5TH CIRCUIT DECISION CASTS SHADOW OVER OBAMACARE OPEN ENROLLMENT: A decision by a federal appeals court threatens to strew confusion among Obamacare shoppers if it lands during open enrollment.
The sign-up period for Obamacare is set to begin Friday, and a decision from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals over whether the law should be thrown out is expected any day. Shoppers have until Dec. 15 to make changes to their plans or to newly enroll, and some people are likely to be confused about whether the law is still in effect if a decision lands within those six weeks.
A decision from the 5th Circuit could result in the lawsuit going back to the lower courts (buying the Trump administration more time) or appealed to the Supreme Court (bringing Obamacare front and center ahead of the 2020 election). The lawsuit questions whether the zeroing out of the fine on the uninsured, part of the Republican tax overhaul, is key to Obamacare working. Republicans, including the Trump administration, argued that the penalty was central to making the rest of the law work, and that without it, the rest should crumble.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has said that the Trump administration would ask for a stay, meaning that Obamacare would remain operating regardless of what happens next in the litigation process. But that doesn’t mean customers won’t be puzzled anyway.
Let’s rewind one year, to when Obamacare was weighed in the lower courts. Federal Judge Reed O’Connor issued his decision on Obamacare, declaring it unconstitutional, on Dec. 14, just one day before open enrollment closed. Health officials immediately told the public that the law was still operating, but they also didn’t extend the deadline to sign up for coverage.
After several years of studying open enrollment, experts have noted that customers tend to procrastinate, so supporters of Obamacare feared enrollment would drop in light of O’Connor’s decision. Even though pro-Obamacare groups say enrollment could have been much higher than it is now if it hadn’t been for the lawsuit or other actions by the Trump administration, it turns out enrollment fell only slightly.
Much of this is thanks to one feature that helps bolster final enrollment rates: Current customers who do nothing by the end of open enrollment won’t lose coverage, but will be automatically placed into the same plan or a similar one.
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.
AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY URGES SENATORS TO VOTE AGAINST OBAMACARE RESOLUTION: The conservative group is asking members to vote against the resolution to undo Trump administration guidance on Obamacare 1332 waivers, which allow states to make changes to their healthcare systems. Democrats are set to force a vote Wednesday as part of a messaging strategy in which they’ll accuse Republicans who don’t vote in favor of the resolution of being uncommitted to rules protecting patients with pre-existing conditions. AFP says the waiver guidance is helpful for states to have flexibility and be able to lower premiums.
PRAF COMES OUT IN SUPPORT OF SENATE PALLIATIVE CARE BILL: The Patient Rights Action Fund, an organization that opposes the legalization of assisted suicide, sent a letter to Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee leaders this week urging them to take up the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act to increase access to palliative care. Matt Valliere, the group’s executive director, said in a letter that the group supported the bill to improve end-of-life care because “truly compassionate multidisciplinary palliative care is designed to treat the suffering of both the patient and their family – whether it be physical, emotional, psychological, existential, financial – and does not allow patients to be abandoned in their most vulnerable moments.”
CALIFORNIA TAKES TRUMP’S ‘RELIGIOUS CONSCIENCE’ RULE TO COURT: The California Department of Justice is arguing its case Wednesday against the Trump administration’s rule to protect medical workers with religious objections from being forced to provide or refer to abortion, sterilization, or medically assisted suicide. Deputy attorneys general Neli Palma and Stephanie Yu filed a motion last month to block the rule permanently, rather than postponing it from being enforced.
Liberal legal groups sued the Trump administration over the rule in May, called it a “denial of care rule.” They argued that the rule, set to go into effect Nov. 22, would violate patients’ rights to free speech and “endangers patients’ health in the name of advancing the religious beliefs of those who are entrusted with caring for them.”
FEDERAL JUDGE TEMPORARILY BLOCKS ALABAMA ABORTION LAW: U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, a Carter appointee, placed a preliminary injunction on Alabama’s near-total ban on abortions, the nation’s strictest abortion law to date. He wrote in his opinion Tuesday that the law, initially set to go into effect in November, “contravenes clear Supreme Court precedent,” and violates a woman’s right to privacy.
SANDERS SAYS HE DOESN’T NEED A FUNDING PLAN FOR ‘MEDICARE FOR ALL’ YET: Presidential candidate and supporter of “Medicare for all” Bernie Sanders said he doesn’t have to put out “an exact detailed plan” for financing the proposed single-payer health system.
PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT APOLOGIZES MONTHS AFTER HARASSING PLANNED PARENTHOOD PROTESTERS: Pennsylvania state representative Brian Sims issued an apology to the family he harassed outside of a Planned Parenthood in April, having told his social media following to dig into the protesters’ personal lives. The Democrat promised his followers that he’d give the person to publish the private information $100. Sims did not apologize to Ashley Garecht, her two teen daughters, and one of their friends until this week. Following the apology, Republican Pennsylvania representative Jerry Knowles withdrew a House resolution to formally censure Sims. “It’s sad that it took more than five months for Rep. Sims to acknowledge he did something very wrong, but he did finally apologize to the people he bullied, harassed and doxed at the Philadelphia abortion clinic,” Knowles said.
The Rundown
CNBC If you have access to an FSA or HSA, here’s why you should sign up for one this year
The Wall Street Journal Heart-failure deaths rise, contributing to worsening life expectancy
The Hill Senate Democrats urge Trump not to back down on vaping flavor ban
The New York Times U.S. blames drug shortages on low prices and a ‘broken marketplace’
Kaiser Health News ‘Invincible’ teen vapers face fears, ask for help
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | Oct. 30
10 a.m. National Press Club. 529 14th St. NW. Physician organizations will call for tighter regulations on e-cigarettes. Details.
10 a.m. Rayburn 2123. House Energy and Commerce’s Health Subcommittee to hold hearing on “Safeguarding Global Pharmaceutical Supply Chains in a Global Economy.” Details.
2 p.m. 215 Dirksen. Senate Finance Health Subcommittee hearing on “Medicaid: Compliance with Eligibility Requirements.” Details.
THURSDAY | Oct. 31
9 a.m.-6 p.m. 1615 H St. NW. U.S. Chamber of Commerce event on “The Business of Health: Transforming with Transparency.” Details.
FRIDAY | Nov. 1
House in recess.
Nov. 1-Dec. 15. Open enrollment begins for Healthcare.gov.
MONDAY | Nov. 4
Nov. 4-5. Capital Hilton. Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative Annual Conference. Details.
