Morning Round Up: "A Chainsaw To Health Care"
Despite President Trump’s claims, the Affordable Care Act is not imploding – he’s sabotaging it. Yesterday, he delivered a one, two punch to the American health care system, signing an executive order to undermine the law and then halting cost-sharing reduction payments. His actions will raise premiums on millions of Americans and force a collapse of our health insurance markets. How is this blatant sabotage playing out this morning? Take a look:
ABC News: The Note: Trump takes a chainsaw to health care
NBC News: Trump Deliberately Tries to Break Obamacare. Does He Own It Now?
“Any one of these moves, by itself, could be considered neglect. But taken together, they make a strong case that the Trump administration is deliberately trying to break Obamacare. After all, if fewer people enroll in the marketplaces, premiums will go up and fewer insurers will participate.”
“Republicans might think the law is already broken. But why make it worse? Can anyone say — with a straight face — that these actions, together, improve the law?”
“So who gets blamed if premiums go higher than they currently are? And who’s at fault if more insurers bolt the Obamacare markets?”
“Back in April, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found 64 percent of Americans saying that Trump and Republicans control the government, and they are responsible for any problems with the health-care law going forward, versus just 28 percent who said they’d point the finger at Barack Obama and congressional Democrats for passing the law.”
Washington Post: The Daily 202: Throwing a bomb into the insurance markets, Trump now owns the broken health-care system
Axios: Trump takes a sledgehammer to the ACA
Bloomberg: Trump Cuts Off Health-Insurer Subsidy, Threatening Obamacare Chaos
Vox: Trump will pull Obamacare subsidies in another attack on health law
VICE News: Trump just made healthcare more expensive for millions of people
ABC News: The Note: Trump takes a chainsaw to health care
“President Trump is once again the bull in the china shop, telling Congress, ‘I broke it, you buy it.’ Within 24 hours, he will make two statements that could wreak havoc on systems in place expecting lawmakers to pick up the pieces. First, the monumental decision to end subsidies the federal government pays to insurers to keep out-of-pocket health care costs down for lower-income Americans. The Department of Health of Human Services says the payments will stop immediately, and it is possible health insurance companies could pull out of certain markets by next year.”
NBC News: Trump Deliberately Tries to Break Obamacare. Does He Own It Now?
“Well, consider the actions that the Trump administration has taken, including over the last 24 hours:
- Then Thursday morning, Trump signed an executive order that could allow some Americans to purchase cheaper insurance plans, which would reduce the ranks of healthy, younger people in the Obamacare markets
- And then last night, the White House announced it was ending key Obamacare subsidies that help pay out-of-pocket costs for low-income Americans.”
“Any one of these moves, by itself, could be considered neglect. But taken together, they make a strong case that the Trump administration is deliberately trying to break Obamacare. After all, if fewer people enroll in the marketplaces, premiums will go up and fewer insurers will participate.”
“Republicans might think the law is already broken. But why make it worse? Can anyone say — with a straight face — that these actions, together, improve the law?”
“So who gets blamed if premiums go higher than they currently are? And who’s at fault if more insurers bolt the Obamacare markets?”
“Back in April, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found 64 percent of Americans saying that Trump and Republicans control the government, and they are responsible for any problems with the health-care law going forward, versus just 28 percent who said they’d point the finger at Barack Obama and congressional Democrats for passing the law.”
Washington Post: The Daily 202: Throwing a bomb into the insurance markets, Trump now owns the broken health-care system
“The administration announced late last night that he will immediately halt cost-sharing reductions. These $7 billion in annual subsidies to health insurers allow around 7 million low-income Americans to afford coverage.”
“Earlier in the day, the president signed a far-reaching executive order that makes it easier for individuals and small businesses to buy alternative types of health insurance with lower prices, fewer benefits and weaker governmentprotections.”
“This is not ‘letting’ Obamacare fail. Many nonpartisan experts believe that these active measures are likely to undermine the pillars of the 2010 law and hasten the collapse of the marketplaces.”
“The uncertainty about what Trump would do has already driven premium prices higher for 2018. Now it’s going to get worse.”
“Earlier in the day, the president signed a far-reaching executive order that makes it easier for individuals and small businesses to buy alternative types of health insurance with lower prices, fewer benefits and weaker governmentprotections.”
“This is not ‘letting’ Obamacare fail. Many nonpartisan experts believe that these active measures are likely to undermine the pillars of the 2010 law and hasten the collapse of the marketplaces.”
“The uncertainty about what Trump would do has already driven premium prices higher for 2018. Now it’s going to get worse.”
Axios: Trump takes a sledgehammer to the ACA
“President Trump left little doubt yesterday that he intends to do as much damage as he can to the Affordable Care Act's insurance markets. And he can do a lot.”
“His decision to halt the law's cost-sharing subsidies will blow up those markets in the short term. And his administration has taken a slew of other steps to undermine enrollment. There's one constant here — to wound the ACA as badly as possible.”
“The ACA sought to flatten out the disparate experiences of the healthy and the sick. Trump would begin to resegregate them.”
“His decision to halt the law's cost-sharing subsidies will blow up those markets in the short term. And his administration has taken a slew of other steps to undermine enrollment. There's one constant here — to wound the ACA as badly as possible.”
“The ACA sought to flatten out the disparate experiences of the healthy and the sick. Trump would begin to resegregate them.”
Bloomberg: Trump Cuts Off Health-Insurer Subsidy, Threatening Obamacare Chaos
“President Donald Trump’s administration took its most drastic step yet to roll back the Affordable Care Act, cutting off a subsidy to insurers hours after issuing an executive order designed to draw people away from the health law’s markets.”
“The moves -- which critics call deliberate attempts to sabotage the law -- come just weeks before Americans will be able to start signing up for coverage for 2018. They follow other steps the Trump administration has taken, such as slashing advertising and outreach budgets to bolster enrollment in Obamacare plans, as well as planning outages of the website where people can sign up.”
“The effect is ‘likely to be profoundly destabilizing, disruptive and potentially materially damaging to hospitals and those exchanges plans who are still required to offer benefits,’ Mizuho analyst Sheryl Skolnick wrote in a note to investors.”
“The result of that action and others is likely to be higher premiums and fewer people covered. The executive order, in particular, will give people in the law’s markets several alternative forms of coverage. They will likely be cheaper, though not as comprehensive.”
“The moves -- which critics call deliberate attempts to sabotage the law -- come just weeks before Americans will be able to start signing up for coverage for 2018. They follow other steps the Trump administration has taken, such as slashing advertising and outreach budgets to bolster enrollment in Obamacare plans, as well as planning outages of the website where people can sign up.”
“The effect is ‘likely to be profoundly destabilizing, disruptive and potentially materially damaging to hospitals and those exchanges plans who are still required to offer benefits,’ Mizuho analyst Sheryl Skolnick wrote in a note to investors.”
“The result of that action and others is likely to be higher premiums and fewer people covered. The executive order, in particular, will give people in the law’s markets several alternative forms of coverage. They will likely be cheaper, though not as comprehensive.”
Vox: Trump will pull Obamacare subsidies in another attack on health law
“The Trump administration has decided to cut off crucial Obamacare subsidies that help reduce health care costs for lower-income Americans, a serious attack on the stability of the health care law’s insurance markets.”
“President Donald Trump has been threatening to end the payments — know as cost-sharing reduction subsidies or CSRs — for months, but is finally following through after Republicans in Congress once again failed to repeal and replace Obamacare late last month.”
“The White House announced late Thursday that the administration would stop the payments. The move comes as the Trump administration is also cutting funding for Obamacare outreach and pursuing new regulations to blow holes in the law, changes that collectively threaten a program through which millions of Americans purchase insurance.”
“Even without the CSR payments, insurers would still be required to reduce cost sharing, but they would now have to do it without the government’s help. They have said they will raise premiums dramatically to make up the lost revenue.”
“President Donald Trump has been threatening to end the payments — know as cost-sharing reduction subsidies or CSRs — for months, but is finally following through after Republicans in Congress once again failed to repeal and replace Obamacare late last month.”
“The White House announced late Thursday that the administration would stop the payments. The move comes as the Trump administration is also cutting funding for Obamacare outreach and pursuing new regulations to blow holes in the law, changes that collectively threaten a program through which millions of Americans purchase insurance.”
“Even without the CSR payments, insurers would still be required to reduce cost sharing, but they would now have to do it without the government’s help. They have said they will raise premiums dramatically to make up the lost revenue.”
VICE News: Trump just made healthcare more expensive for millions of people
“Donald Trump announced Thursday the White House will scrap a key component of Obamacare legislation that helps low-income families to pay for healthcare — a move likely to destabilize insurance markets and send premiums soaring.”
“Congress has failed to find a replacement for the Affordable Care Act in recent months, so Trump is looking to fulfill a key campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare by sabotage.”
New York Times: Trump to Scrap Critical Health Care Subsidies, Hitting Obamacare Again“Congress has failed to find a replacement for the Affordable Care Act in recent months, so Trump is looking to fulfill a key campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare by sabotage.”
“President Trump will scrap subsidies to health insurance companies that help pay out-of-pocket costs of low-income people, the White House said late Thursday. His plans were disclosed hours after the president ordered potentially sweeping changes in the nation’s insurance system, including sales of cheaper policies with fewer benefits and fewer protections for consumers.”
“The twin hits to the Affordable Care Act could unravel President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement, sending insurance premiums soaring and insurance companies fleeing from the health law’s online marketplaces. After Republicans failed to repeal the health law in Congress, Mr. Trump appears determined to dismantle it on his own.”
“Chris Hansen, the president of the lobbying arm of the American Cancer Society, said the order ‘could leave millions of cancer patients and survivors unable to access meaningful coverage.’”
“The twin hits to the Affordable Care Act could unravel President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement, sending insurance premiums soaring and insurance companies fleeing from the health law’s online marketplaces. After Republicans failed to repeal the health law in Congress, Mr. Trump appears determined to dismantle it on his own.”
“Chris Hansen, the president of the lobbying arm of the American Cancer Society, said the order ‘could leave millions of cancer patients and survivors unable to access meaningful coverage.’”