With Election Day less than two weeks away, the Trump administration tried to pivot away from Democrats鈥� attacks that they are out to dismantle health insurance protections for people with preexisting conditions.
The administration made three health care moves over the course of the week, including addressing high prices paid by the Medicare program for drugs administered in doctors鈥� offices and outpatient facilities.
Officials also released a proposed regulation that could strengthen the individual insurance market 鈥斅燽y making it easier for employers to provide workers with funds so they can purchase their own health insurance. But the third action of the week could make the individual market more unstable聽鈥斅燽y providing a route for allowing states to use federal subsidies to let healthier individuals purchase less comprehensive coverage.
This week鈥檚 panelists for KHN鈥檚 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥� are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Alice Ollstein of Politico.
Among the takeaways from this week鈥檚 podcast:
- The administration鈥檚 latest salvo in the battle against high drug prices deals with Medicare Part B drugs, which are those usually given for serious diseases like cancer or arthritis and are administered in a doctor鈥檚 office or outpatient facility because they involve injections or infusions.
- The Medicare pricing for Plan B drugs often has been criticized for driving up costs. Medicare reimburses doctors for the costs they incur, plus 6 percent. Critics suggest that percentage encourages doctors to pay a high price for their drugs and that a flat administrative fee would be less inflationary.
- Despite a raft of statements in recent weeks by Republicans 聽鈥斅爄ncluding President Donald Trump聽鈥斅爐hat they support protecting insurance coverage for people with preexisting medical problems, few GOP candidates have articulated any measures that would effectively do that.
- Guidance announced by the administration this week to allow states to seek waivers for their ACA insurance marketplaces would upend some of the 鈥済uardrails鈥� designed to make sure that all plans provide a set group of benefits, including preexisting condition guarantees.
- Another proposed policy announced this week would allow employers to begin to decouple insurance from the job by giving workers tax-free money to buy policies on the ACA marketplaces.
Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too:
Julie Rovner:聽笔辞濒颈迟颈肠辞鈥檚 by Dan Diamond
and:
Rolling Stone鈥檚 by Tessa Stuart
Kimberly Leonard:听搁别补蝉辞苍.肠辞尘鈥檚 by Peter Suderman
Anna Edney:聽The New York Times鈥� by Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Natalie Kitroeff
Alice Ollstein:聽Kaiser Family Foundation鈥檚
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