Most of the real action on health reform is likely to happen in the regulatory space over the next two years, and the Trump administration can build on the opportunities it already has created with a regulatory fix that would increase access to health insurance for working families. We submitted a comment letter on Friday recommending a change to the administration’s proposed … [Read more...] about Increasing Access to Health Insurance for Working Families
Don’t Panic: There’s Time To Get ObamaCare Replacement Right
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor’s decision striking down ObamaCare provides an opportunity for states to begin solving the mess Washington has created in their health insurance markets. My colleague Doug Badger writes that the decision gives states “new space to create policies that benefit their own residents—the sick, the healthy, and the poor. Congress should resist the urge to act in … [Read more...] about Don’t Panic: There’s Time To Get ObamaCare Replacement Right
Trump’s Misguided Solution to Drug Prices
The Trump administration has made important progress in loosening the federal government’s grip on private health insurance, freeing up more options for affordable health insurance. But the administration has veered off this free-market track with its recent proposal to, among other things, slap a form of imported price controls on a specific class of prescription drugs in Medicare. To its … [Read more...] about Trump’s Misguided Solution to Drug Prices
Amgen Announces Major Price Cut For Its Breakthrough Cholesterol Drug
By Grace-Marie Turner— The Trump administration continues to work overtime to lower prescription drug costs for consumers. In response, some pharmaceutical companies have announced rollbacks of price increases, cuts in prices, price freezes, or other ways to improve affordability for patients. In the latest example, Amgen, a leading biologics company, is stepping forward to bring down prices … [Read more...] about Amgen Announces Major Price Cut For Its Breakthrough Cholesterol Drug
Several States Have Found Ways To Mitigate Obamacare’s Damage To Their Health Insurance Markets
By Grace-Marie Turner & Doug Badger — A few states have found a key to undoing some of Obamacare’s damage to their individual health insurance markets by redirecting some federal funding to help sick people. These states are providing separate assistance to those with the highest health costs, thereby reducing premiums and increasing enrollment for healthy people driven out of the market by … [Read more...] about Several States Have Found Ways To Mitigate Obamacare’s Damage To Their Health Insurance Markets
Real Solutions, Not Empty Promises
by Grace-Marie Turner — Yes, people with pre-existing conditions should be protected. That is a hot issue on the campaign trail as Democrats hammer their Republican opponents over the threat that repealing Obamacare could mean citizens would lose pre-ex protections. But, like so many other things with Obamacare, the health overhaul law offers a promise but produces collateral damage in … [Read more...] about Real Solutions, Not Empty Promises
One Week At CMS: Steps Toward Transformative Changes
by Grace-Marie Turner — The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services is continuing the drumbeat of modernizing the two gargantuan programs it runs to generate more accountability, greater transparency, and provide better value for both patients and taxpayers. Administrator Seema Verma announced on Thursday a new proposed rule that would bring more accountability into “Accountable” Care … [Read more...] about One Week At CMS: Steps Toward Transformative Changes
CMS Needs to Fix Payment Policies For Clinical Labs
Congress ordered the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to come up with a new payment system for the more than 400 million clinical laboratory tests that Medicare pays for each year so that prices would be more closely aligned with those paid by private insurers. But the new system relies on data that are not broadly representative of market rates, putting access to clinical … [Read more...] about CMS Needs to Fix Payment Policies For Clinical Labs