Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
What's Next For The Health Law?
After the Supreme Court declined to gut the law in a decision last week, theres an opportunity to build on gains in health coverage and also rectify some missteps in the Affordable Care Acts marketing, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the U.S. health secretary, told Bloombergs Al Hunt in an interview for PBSs Charlie Rose program. We as an administration havent done as much as we could to make sure people understand the breadth of the benefits, she said. The ACA became about a very narrow thing. Even narrower than the uninsured, it became about the marketplace. It is about so much more. (Wayne, 7/1)
Since the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, whats next for ensuring the health of the health reform law? Judy Woodruff speaks to Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell about its successes and what can be improved. (7/1)
Its been almost a week since the Supreme Courts momentous ruling that further cements the Affordable Care Act as the law of the land, and Wednesday President Barack Obama flew to Nashville, Tennessee, to talk about health care. While some consider this a bit of a victory lap, the presidents choice of Tennessee suggests its much more of an overture. (Gorenstein, 7/1)
In addition, the health law's data release requirements could shape marketplace developments -
The federal governments release of new data on health-insurer payments under the Affordable Care Act is roiling the industry, including potentially affecting the timing of any deal for Humana Inc., as suitors pore over the detailed information disclosed late Tuesday. (Wilde Mathews and Mattioli, 7/1)
Insurers are sizing up their reimbursements under CMS' reinsurance program and some plans appear to be off on their estimates. As part of the Affordable Care Act's plan to protect against adverse selection and protect insurers from excessive losses that could come from a disproportionate share of consumers with high medical costs, money is transferred between plans with relatively lower risk enrollees to plans with relatively higher risk enrollees. (Dickson, 7/1)
In other news on mergers and aquisitions -
The Centene Corporation, a managed health care company, said on Thursday that it had agreed to acquire its rival Health Net in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $6.8 billion, including the assumption of debt. The deal would combine two providers of managed care in the United States, creating a company with more than 10 million members and an estimated $37 billion in revenue this year, the companies said. It would also expand Centenes scale and give it a larger market presence in the western United States.
And a new study shows that Massachusetts' residents filing for bankruptcy after that state's health reform law took effect had less medical debt -
In his 2014 study, Northeastern University law professor Daniel Austin dug into personal bankruptcy filings to figure out what happened after Massachusetts lawmakers made health insurance mandatory in 2005. His findings? Massachusetts residents who file for bankruptcy protection these days have way less medical debt compared to the rest of the country. The typical Massachusetts person or couple who filed in 2013 had $3,041 in medical debt, while people everywhere else had an average of $8,594 in medical debt. (Stech, 7/1)
