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ashoup
In News, Administration

Misleading Congress, Azar Denies Reality of Rate Hikes

HHS SECRETARY AZAR: “I really do not believe it will have a significant impact on our risk pool, the repeal of that..I don’t see the premium effect.” [Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, 5/10/18]

EX-HHS SECRETARY TOM PRICE: “There are many, and I am one of them, who believes that that actually will harm the pool in the exchange market because you’ll likely have individuals who are younger and healthier not participating in that market. And, consequently, that drives up the cost for other folks in that market.” [World Health Care Congress speech, 5/1/18]

VIRGINIA INSURANCE COMPANIES: “Both Cigna and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield cited policies advocated by the Trump administration, including the repeal of ObamaCare’s individual mandate, as part of its justifications for the increases. Cigna is proposing an average premium increase of 15 percent for its 103,264 customers in Virginia, with a range of increases from 6.4 percent to 40 percent. CareFirst is proposing a 64 percent increase for its approximately 4,500 customers in the commonwealth, citing an increase in sicker people entering the marketplace.” [The Hill, 5/4/18]

CONGRESSMAN DON BEYER (D-VA): “Come to Virginia, where premiums will soar by up to 64% because of sabotage by your boss and your agency, and say that again. Maryland too. Have you looked, or talked to actual people?” [Twitter, 5/11/18]

ashoup
In News, Administration

This Week in the War on Health Care

While foreign policy dominated the headlines this week, Republicans continued their unprecedented assault on the American health care system. Here’s what happened this week in the war on health care – as well as three op-eds and one poll worth checking out:

UNINSURED RATE UP THANKS TO REPUBLICANS’ WAR ON HEALTH CARE

A new survey from Gallup finds statistically significant uninsured rate spikes in 17 states over the first year of the Trump presidency, attributing the dramatic increase to Republicans’ repeal-and-sabotage campaign against the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid.

Health care advocates warned President Trump and Congressional Republicans that their repeated attacks would lead to fewer coverage and higher costs, and these numbers confirm it. Republicans’ war on health care has had a fast and dramatic negative impact, and things will get worse until we can stop these attacks on our care.

PREMIUMS RISE AS INSURANCE COMPANIES DECRY GOP ACTIONS

This week, 2019 rates were officially announced in Virginia and Maryland, and the results are not pretty. Rates in Virginia are slated to rise as much as 64%, while they could go up as much as 91% in Maryland. What’s behind these hikes?

As Cigna said in Virginia:

Factors behind the rate request include “elimination of the Individual Mandate penalties” and “anticipated changes to regulations regarding Short Term Medical and Association Health Plans.” [Fierce Healthcare, 5/10]

And as Kaiser Permanente said in Maryland:

“‘These proposed rates reflect the expected costs of providing coverage for these members, including the impact of eliminating the individual mandate penalty.” [Baltimore Sun, 5/7]

Now more than ever, bipartisan actions to stabilize the marketplace would be valuable. Unfortunately…

SEN. ALEXANDER REFUSING TO WORK WITH DEMOCRATS TO SHORE UP MARKETPLACE

A new report indicated that Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) will refuse to work with Democrats to avoid double-digit rate hikes caused by Republicans’ actions to sabotage health care.

In other words, after blowing up bipartisan talks to alleviate the damaging rate hikes GOP policies are forcing on millions of Americans, Sen. Alexander is now flailing to avoid the consequences of his actions. His ‘dog ate my homework’ finger-pointing is too little, too late.

CHILDREN’S COVERAGE BECOMES THE LATEST FOCUS OF THE GOP’S HEALTH CARE CUTS

Yesterday, President Trump sent Congress a proposal to slash $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to patch up the record deficits being inflicted by his tax breaks for big corporations, cuts which would cause a ripple effect of harm to critical health care programs.

Before the Trump presidency the CHIP program earned broad bipartisan support. Now, Republicans in Congress use kids’ health as a bargaining chip Is there no bridge too far for the GOP in their relentless war on our health care?

REPUBLICANS NOMINATE THREE MORE ENEMIES OF HEALTH CARE

On Tuesday night, candidates who have pledged to continue the GOP’s destructive repeal-and-sabotage agenda won Senate primaries in Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia.

  • Ohio Republican Senate nominee Jim Renacci has voted to repeal or tear apart the Affordable Care Act 58 times, including last year’s House repeal bill that would have kicked 23 million Americans off of their health care, spiked premiums, undermined health care and reproductive rights for women, and imposed an age tax on older Americans;
  • Indiana Republican Senate nominee Mike Braun has called for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, with no plan to replace it; and
  • West Virginia Republican Senate nominee Patrick Morrissey has twice sued the federal government to overturn the Affordable Care Act, most recently joining a February suit to invalidate the law.

In the Senate, these nominees would push a destructive agenda that represents a grave threat to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, placing millions of Americans’ coverage and access to care at risk. But despite what Renacci, Braun, and Morrissey might say, the majority of the American people are saying louder: enough is enough – it’s time for Republicans to end their war on our health care. In fact, just this week…

OPINION PAGES CALL OUT GOP SABOTAGE

The Washington Post and Minneapolis Star Tribune both published scathing editorials against aspects of the GOP’s prolonged repeal-and-sabotage campaign this week, and a New York Times column made clear the effects of this campaign.

Here’s the Washington Post:

The effects of the president’s underinformed instincts, enabled by the ideologues in his administration, are beginning to show up in some of the numbers, representing real pain that Americans are suffering for Mr. Trump’s deficient leadership… Obamacare critics regularly describe all problems as the inevitable result of a poorly designed law. But the numbers suggest that the critics’ sabotage efforts are to blame. After impressive declines during President Barack Obama’s second term, the fund found that the uninsured rate increased in both of the years Mr. Trump has been in office.

The Star Tribune:

Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed extending the coverage period to roughly a year from about three months…. The savings might dazzle consumers, but ‘Buyer beware!’ ought to be shouted from the rooftops… Short-term plans are cheap because they don’t cover very much. Policymakers pushing these plans ought to be asked if they’d be comfortable relying on them for their families. The only responsible answer is ‘no.’

And the New York Times:

Insurers are already proposing major premium hikes — and they are specifically attributing those hikes to G.O.P. actions that are driving healthy Americans out of the market, leaving a sicker, more expensive pool behind. So here’s what’s going to happen: Soon, many Americans will suffer sticker shock from their insurance policies; federal subsidies will protect most of them, but by no means everyone. They’ll also hear news about declining insurance coverage. And Republicans will say, ‘See, Obamacare is failing.’ But the problem isn’t with Obamacare, it’s with the politicians who unleashed this termite infestation — who are doing all they can to take away your health coverage. And they need to be held accountable.

KAISER TRACKING POLL CONFIRMS: HEALTH CARE A MAJOR ISSUE FOR VOTERS

This morning’s Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll found that health care remains a top issue among voters, as covered by the Washington Times and HealthExec. Among its key findings:

  • 77% of those surveyed said health care was an important issue, with 30% of these voters listing health care costs as the reason why – just as premiums are rising due to GOP sabotage.
  • 19 percent of Independents cited health care a top issue, second only to the economy at 22 percent.
  • Kaiser considers one in four Americans “health care voters,” who “say a candidate’s position on health care will be the ‘most important factor’ in their decision.”
  • Cutting Medicaid and Medicare remains deeply unpopular. As the poll found: “Few partisans – regardless of party identification – say they would be ‘more likely’ to vote for a candidate who wants to reduce government spending on health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.”
  • People are more likely to support candidates who support the Affordable Care Act, and less likely to support candidates who favor repeal.

The Kaiser survey follows numerous recent polls that find health care remains the top issue heading into midterms, including a new CBS poll released Tuesday that finds health care is the most important issue in deciding votes this November.

ashoup
In News, Administration, Stories

Susan Collins & Seema Verma Had Their Chance to Lower Rates & They Blew It

Washington, D.C. – After Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) bragged about discussing rising premiums with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Administrator Seema Verma, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Campaign Chair Leslie Dach released the following statement:

“Senator Collins talking to Administrator Verma about Republican rate hikes is about as much help to working families as two foxes chatting in front of a chicken coop. Senator Collins’ ‘plan’ for lowering premiums was to vote for a TrumpTax bill that raised them by double digits, while Administrator Verma’s ‘plan’ is to sell junk insurance that doesn’t cover essential medical care and allows companies to once again discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. Last fall, Senator Collins had a clear opportunity to tackle rising premiums, and she missed the boat. She could have voted against the GOP tax bill and kept her promise to pass a bipartisan market stabilization package to undo some of the Trump Administration’s own sabotage. Instead, she did neither. Senator Collins and Seema Verma can discuss rising premiums until the cows come home, but in fact, it’s their policies that got us into this mess in the first place.”

ashoup
In News, Administration, Stories

Maryland Insurance Companies, Citing Trump Health Care Sabotage, Plan to Raise Rates Again this Fall

Washington, D.C. – As preliminary Maryland rate filings for 2019 individual-market health insurance indicated a potential double-digit average premium increase due to Washington Republicans’ repeal-and-sabotage agenda, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“For the past year and a half, President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have engaged in a deliberate, aggressive campaign to undermine health care and now families in Maryland are being asked to pay the price. While insurance companies make huge profits and enjoy record tax breaks from Republicans, they are planning to charge working families even more. Until we stop Republicans’ war on health care, health care experts predict that rates will keep rising by double digits. Washington Republicans should start working on bipartisan solutions to make coverage more affordable, instead of helping their friends in the insurance industry make another buck on the backs of hardworking Marylanders.”

From the Insurers:

Kaiser Permanente: Proposed Rates Reflect “The Impact Of Eliminating The Individual Mandate Penalty.” “Kaiser Permanente’s proposed 2019 rates for Maryland Health Insurance Exchange members represent our efforts to ensure we can sustain and deliver high-quality health care for all our members over the long term.” the insurer said in a statement. “These proposed rates reflect the expected costs of providing coverage for these members, including the impact of eliminating the individual mandate penalty.” [Baltimore Sun, 5/7]

Why Marylanders’ Insurance Is Getting Even More Expensive: The Trump Administration and Washington Republicans Keep Sabotaging Health Care

While spending most of last year trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and waging a war on our health care, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have also used their control of Washington to actively undermine the Health Insurance Marketplaces every chance they get – leading insurance companies to raise premiums for 2018 and 2019 and, in some cases, forcing them out of the individual market altogether. Washington Republicans’ goal is simple: sabotage and undermine the Affordable Care Act, then blame everyone but themselves for the consequences of their actions. President Trump keeps rooting for disaster, saying that “The best thing we can do…is let Obamacare explode” and “Let it be a disaster because we can blame that on the Democrats.”

Now, initial rate filings in Maryland forecast double-digit rate hikes again this fall because of Republican sabotage.

Republicans never ended their war on our health care. After Congress failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Trump Administration is aggressively sabotaging our health care system and refusing to work to make coverage better and more affordable.

  • Experts from AARP, the Congressional Budget Office, and a wide range of other nonpartisan organizations agree that Republican actions are forcing up health care costs.
  • Republicans in Congress are supporting the Administration’s many actions to undermine health care, despite widespread opposition from patient and disease groups, doctors, nurses, hospitals, plus health care and consumer advocates.
  • The Trump Administration officials keep rewriting the rules to let big insurance companies cover fewer and fewer services while charging people more and more. The sabotage doesn’t stop there: last year the Administration fired many of the community assisters who help people enroll in health care; this year they are planning more enrollment cuts, making it even harder to sign up for coverage.
  • And now, Republicans are encouraging insurance companies to sell more junk plans that don’t have to cover basic care like hospitalization and prescription drugs, and that are allowed to charge people with pre-existing conditions more or even deny them coverage altogether. In Maryland, no short-term plans available have to cover maternity care, and only 0 percent of plans cover prescription drugs.

This could have been avoided: if Republicans had stopped sabotaging health care, American families wouldn’t be facing another huge increase this fall.

  • Even the Trump Administration has admitted that the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces had been stabilizing prior to them coming into office.
  • The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had predicted only modest rate increases if Republicans hadn’t sabotaged the markets.
  • Even Senate Republicans admitted this fall’s upcoming rate hikes were “avoidable,” but then they torched bipartisan stabilization talks at the last minute, prioritizing partisan politics over their last opportunity to help American families afford health care next year.

Despite Republican Sabotage, the Affordable Care Act Has Improved Marylanders’ Care.

  • 153,584 Marylanders signed up for Marketplace coverage this year.
  • Thanks to the Marketplace and Medicaid expansion, Maryland’s uninsured rate fell by 6 percent between 2013 and 2016 as Marylanders have gained access to affordable coverage.
  • Before today’s announcement, the Urban Institute predicted that Maryland premiums for 2019 could rise 18.4 percent more because of the Trump Administration’s junk plan proposal and the Republican tax bill’s repeal of a key Affordable Care Act coverage incentive.
  • Even despite sabotage, Affordable Care Act subsidies help keep coverage affordable for 79 percent of Maryland Marketplace consumers, whose average 2018 premium is $131 per month.
  • But because of the Republican sabotage agenda, many middle-income Marylanders could pay hundreds or thousands of dollars more than they would have otherwise.

The Trump Administration’s sabotage will punish Americans by jacking up premiums again, compounding the damage done last year, when Republican sabotage pushed rates up by a national average of 37%.

  • The Republican tax bill’s repeal of a key Affordable Care Act provision and the Trump Administration’s junk plan proposal will increase individual market premiums in Maryland by an average 18.4 percent this fall, according to a recent Urban Institute study.
  • This sabotage-driven rate hike will make the damage Republicans inflicted last year through repeal attempts and sabotage even worse.
  • Higher premiums will mean fewer working families can afford coverage: during the first year of the Trump Administration, millions more Americans joined the ranks of the uninsured – the highest increase since Gallup started tracking the uninsured rate.

KEY QUOTES

America’s Health Insurance Plans: Republican Sabotage Will “Drive Up The Rate Of Premium Increases. “Policies that disproportionately draw healthy consumers away from the individual market, like expanding access to short-term plans, will likely have an even more devastating effect on affordability, choice and competition. This will further result in adverse selection, drive up the rate of premium increases, and exacerbate affordability issues for many other people.” [America’s Health Insurance Plans Letter to HHS, 4/20/18]

CEO of CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield: Things Are “Materially Worse” Under Trump. “Continuing actions on the part of the administration to systematically undermine the market and make it almost impossible to carry out the mission…If continued efforts at the federal level undermine the marketplaces, I would think the board would have to examine what they would want — that’s very much on their mind.” [Washington Post, 5/1/18]

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey: 2018 Premium Increase Was Due To Federal Policy. “Three factors connected to federal policy decisions are responsible for 14.7% of the 24.3% total average individual premium increase: Weakened enforcement of the Individual Mandate…Elimination of federal funding for Cost Sharing Reductions (CSR), [and] 2018 reinstatement of Health Insurance Tax…Were it not for the three factors within the control of the Federal Government, Horizon BCBSNJ’s individual premiums would have an average increase of 9.6%.” [Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, 10/17/17]

Lindsey Graham: Republicans “Own The Outcome” On Health Care. “Sen. Graham told Breitbart News, ‘In October, premiums are going up. Obamacare cannot be fixed. It’s going to continue to collapse, and then, we own the outcome. By repealing the individual mandate, which is a step forward in the eyes of the public, we own the issue. We have a responsibility to do something about the collapsing Obamacare system. I believe that we’re going to get blamed more than Democrats because we stopped trying to repeal Obamacare, and to suggest that we don’t own it is just simply politically naive.’ Graham continued, ‘It can hurt us in 2018. It can hurt by our base feeling like we betrayed them. It can hurt us from people suffering from Obamacare, like we don’t have a solution. It will energize Democrats. It can undercut everything we did on the tax cut side.’” [Breitbart, 2/6/18]

Rep. Charlie Dent: “We, The Republican Party…Own” Health Care Now. “Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) argued Friday that President Trump was ‘ill-advised’ to end key ObamaCare payments, warning that the GOP now ‘owns’ whatever happens to ObamaCare. ‘I think the president is ill-advised to take this course of action because … we, the Republican Party, will own this,’ Dent, a key House moderate who is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, said on CNN. Asked about Trump’s previous comments blaming problems with ObamaCare on former President Barack Obama, Dent pointed out that Republicans currently control the White House and have majorities in both chambers of Congress. ‘Barack Obama is a former president. President Trump is the president and he’s a Republican, and we control the Congress,’ Dent said. ‘So we own the system now. We’re going to have to figure out a way to stabilize this situation … This is on us.’” [The Hill, 10/13/17]

Washington Post: “The Pottery Barn Rule Comes To Mind: You Break It, You Own It.” “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 Pottery Barn rule comes to mind: You break it, you own it. Yes, the plate you just shattered had some cracks in it. But if you dropped it on the ground, the store is going to blame you.” [Washington Post, 10/13/17]

Washington Post: “Trump’s Not Going To Be Able To Avoid Blame For Kneecapping Obamacare.” [Washington Post, 10/13/17]

“After Months Of Pinning The Blame For Obamacare’s Shortcomings On Democrats And Watching His Own Party Fail To Act, President Donald Trump Just Took Ownership Of A Struggle That’s Consumed Republicans For Seven Years.” “After months of pinning the blame for Obamacare’s shortcomings on Democrats and watching his own party fail to act, President Donald Trump just took ownership of a struggle that’s consumed Republicans for seven years. Trump’s decision late Thursday to end government subsidies to insurers to help lower-income Americans afford to use their coverage under the Affordable Care Act was the most drastic step he’s taken to undermine his predecessor’s signature achievement. It also lobbed a live bomb into the laps of Republicans lawmakers 13 months before congressional elections after he publicly berated the party’s Senate leadership for being unable to keep a longstanding promise to repeal the law.” [Bloomberg, 10/13/17]

The American People Agree: President Trump And Congressional Republicans Are Playing Politics With People’s Health Care. A poll conducted last September found that 61 percent of voters believed President Trump was “trying to make the Affordable Care Act fail,” and 64 percent of voters said Trump is “playing politics with people’s health care.” The poll also found that the American people seriously disapprove of how Republicans in Congress are treating health care: 80 percent of voters disapprove while only 20 percent approve. [Garin Poll, 9/5/17]

ashoup
In News, Administration

As Insurance Companies Cite “Policies Advocated By The Trump Administration,” Virginians Face Republican-Inflicted Rate Hikes

On Friday, preliminary Virginia rate filings for 2019 individual-market health insurance indicated a potential double-digit average premium increase due to Washington Republicans’ repeal-and-sabotage agenda. What’s behind this spike? In the words of the insurance companies themselves, “policies advocated by the Trump Administration” are driving the increases. It’s the latest consequence of the GOP’s repeal-and-sabotage campaign. Here’s some early coverage:

Senators Mark Warner And Tim Kaine: “These Proposed Price Increases Are A Painful Consequence Of The Trump Administration’s Efforts To Sabotage The Health Insurance Market And Dismantle The Affordable Care Act.” “These proposed price increases are a painful consequence of the Trump Administration’s efforts to sabotage the health insurance market and dismantle the Affordable Care Act. After a series of unsuccessful attempts to repeal the ACA, President Trump and Republicans in Congress settled for taking actions that will increase premium costs for American families, something even Trump’s former HHS Secretary admitted this week. Now, their irresponsible games are hurting Virginians by making it harder for families to afford health care. We hope our colleagues will take this seriously and pass bipartisan legislation to stabilize the market and make sure Virginians have affordable options for health insurance in 2019.” [Senator Tim Kaine, 5/4]

Rep. Don Beyer: “This Is A Scandal And A Disgrace And Virginians Are Going To Be Hurt Very Badly.” “Awful healthcare news for Virginia. Last year we stopped Trump/GOP attempts to repeal the ACA and strip health insurance from 23 million people. They responded by sabotaging the healthcare system. We just learned that this is going to cause Virginians’ premiums to skyrocket. ‘Skyrocket’ = double-digit increases, up to 64%, depending on your insurer and plan. There is no way to sugarcoat these health insurance premium hikes: they are across different insurers, they are devastating, and many will not be able to afford them. Why is this happening? The insurers themselves attribute it to Republican actions… This is a scandal and a disgrace and Virginians are going to be hurt very badly, especially those who can least afford it. It is so infuriating… Congress must act immediately to undo the Trump/GOP sabotage and take steps to rein in costs. It is still possible to help if we work together for solutions. Right now this is awful news for Virginians, but we will not be the only ones. Americans in other states will feel the same pain of health premium increases, and some may get hit even harder. The GOP did this on purpose. They have to let us fix it.” [Twitter, 5/4]

Virginian-Pilot: “Cigna And CareFirst Said Trump Administration Policies, Including The Repeal Of The Individual Mandate, Led To The Proposed Increases.” “Two of the insurance companies that participate in Affordable Care Act exchanges in Virginia are seeking clearance for large increases in premiums for next year…  Cigna and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield are two of seven insurers that offer policies under what is known as Obamacare… Cigna and CareFirst said Trump administration policies, including the repeal of the individual mandate, led to their proposed increases. Cigna said it anticipates sicker people entering the market, a result of the individual mandate being repealed. Cigna also cited ‘anticipated changes to regulations’ involving short-term plans and association health plans as a reason for the requests.” [Virginian-Pilot, 5/4]

The Hill: Insurers “Cited Policies Advocated By The Trump Administration” As Justification For Increases. “Two of Virginia’s ObamaCare insurers are requesting significant premium hikes for 2019, according to initial filings released Friday. Both Cigna and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield cited policies advocated by the Trump administration, including the repeal of ObamaCare’s individual mandate, as part of its justifications for the increases… The pro-ObamaCare group Protect Our Care Campaign was quick to attack the administration following the news. ‘Until we stop Republicans’ war on health care, health care experts predict that rates will keep rising by double digits,’ said the group’s director, Brad Woodhouse. ‘D.C. Republicans should start working on bipartisan solutions to make coverage more affordable, instead of helping their friends in the insurance industry make another buck on the backs of hardworking Virginians.’” [The Hill, 5/4]

Fierce Healthcare: Premiums Could Rise 64% “And Insurers Are Blaming President Donald Trump And Congressional Republicans.” “Premium increases for exchange plans could swell as much as 64% in Virginia next year if proposed rate hikes hold up. And insurers are blaming President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans. According to preliminary filings submitted on Friday, two of Virginia’s largest ACA insurers, Cigna and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, are requesting significant premium hikes for next year in response to planned policy changes by the Trump administration and the GOP’s repeal of the individual mandate… The insurers cited repeal of the individual mandate and ‘anticipated changes to regulations’ to short-term health plans as reasons for the drastic increases. Congressional Republicans repealed the mandate last year as part of its tax overhaul, and the Trump administration has moved to extend the short-term health plan duration to 12 months. Both policies are projected to drive younger, healthier people from the markets, raising premiums for those who remain.” Fierce Healthcare, 5/6]

Politico: “This Time It’s Democrats Taking Advantage Of The Proposed Spikes To Blame President Donald Trump And Hill Republicans, Arguing They Have Taken Several Actions That Will Destabilize Insurance Markets.” “The initial glimpse of premium increases is predictably prompting political jockeying that will continue throughout the summer and fall as officials finalize next year’s prices. Unlike prior years, this time it’s Democrats taking advantage of the proposed spikes to blame President Donald Trump and Hill Republicans, arguing they have taken several actions that will destabilize insurance markets.” [Politico, 5/7]

Andy Slavitt, Former Acting CMS Administrator: “Trump Is Giving Insurance Companies Unfettered Ability To Charge What They Want, Deny What They Want, Cover What They Want, And Make Unlimited Profits.” [Twitter, 5/5]

Larry Levitt, Kaiser Family Foundation: “With Insurers Now Mostly Profitable In The ACA Individual Insurance Market, I Would Have Expected Single-Digit Premium Increases For 2019 Reflecting Health Cost Growth. With Repeal Of The Individual Mandate And Expansion Of  Short-Term Plans, Double-Digit Hikes Are Now Likely.” [Twitter, 5/7]

Joe Scarborough: “This Is A Coming Sign Of The Times That Will Haunt A Republican Party That Sabotaged America’s Health Care System Instead Of Replacing Or Reforming It.” [Twitter, 5/6]

Charles Gaba, ACA Signups: “For Anyone Who Doesn’t Believe The Latest Batch Of [Sabotage] By Trump Isn’t Gonna Jack Rates Up Next Year, I’ve Already Got Receipts Out Of Virginia.” [Twitter, 5/6]

Jon Favreau: “Enjoy Premium Hikes Of 64%, Brought To You By Republican Control Of Washington. And That Number Will Climb Even Higher If Republicans Keep Congress And Continue To Sabotage The Affordable Care Act In 2019.” [Twitter, 5/4]

David Certner, AARP: “Steps Could (And Should) Have Been Taken This Past Year To Hold Down Health Care Premiums. Instead, The Reverse Has Happened, And Now Insurers In Virginia Propose Major Premium Hikes For 2019.” [Twitter, 5/6]

ashoup
In News, Administration, Stories

Today, Americans Remember House Republicans’ Inexcusable Repeal Vote

Washington, D.C. – One year ago today, 217 House Republicans voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The so-called “American Health Care Act” would have cut coverage, increased costs, and eliminated protections for millions of Americans. On the vote’s one-year anniversary, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“One year ago today, Congressional Republicans voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They voted to kick 23 million Americans off of their health insurance, raise premiums by double-digits for every American, and jeopardize the health care of millions of women. They voted to once again allow insurance companies to discriminate against those with pre-existing conditions, cut coverage off by applying arbitrary lifetime caps, and refuse coverage for maternity care and substance abuse treatment. They voted to implement a $12,000 ‘age tax’ on seniors, take away a crucial lifeline for rural hospitals, and cut Medicaid by $1 trillion, a crippling blow to a program that insures 77 million Americans. And they did it all to give a $600 billion tax break to the wealthy and insurance and drug companies.

“In the face of pleas from constituents with serious medical conditions, advocacy from Americans whose lives have been saved by the ACA, and polls that showed the public opposed the bill by a 3-1 margin, House Republicans voted to kick 23 million Americans from their health care and then went to the White House to celebrate.

“A year later, we haven’t forgotten. In races across the country, from a Pennsylvania Congressional district Donald Trump won by twenty points to a Wisconsin state Senate seat Republicans had held since the turn of the century, health care has been cited as a top issue, carrying Democrats to victory. Dozens of House Republicans, including Speaker Paul Ryan, have announced their retirement. And Americans have made clear their frustration with Republicans’ war on our care will continue: rallies will take place today from coast to coast, voters of all political stripes are rejecting GOP repeal proposals, and candidates for federal, state, and local offices spurred to run because of last year’s vote are saying loud and clear: we won’t forget.”

PROTECT OUR CARE COMMEMORATES THE ANNIVERSARY:

  • Retire Repeal Website. Protect Our Care today is launching a microsite, Retire Repeal – We Won’t Forget, to honor the House Republicans who voted to take health care away from their constituents and resigned or announced their retirement well before the end of their term.

  • Events. Protect Our Care and partner groups will host over twenty events across the country,  reminding GOP elected officials who supported repeal that voters will continue holding them accountable for their actions.

 

 

 

ashoup
In News, Administration, Stories

This Week in the War on Health Care

While Congress was away on recess this week, Republicans continued their unprecedented assault on the American health care system – capped off by the one year anniversary of their vote to take health care away from 23 million Americans. Here’s what happened in the war on health care – and why the past seven days have shown, yet again, that the Affordable Care Act is here to stay:

ONE YEAR AGO: HOUSE REPUBLICANS VOTED TO KICK  23 MILLION AMERICANS OFF OF THEIR INSURANCE

One year ago tomorrow, House Republicans voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The so-called “American Health Care Act” would have kicked 23 million Americans off of their insurance, raised premiums double-digits, gutted Medicaid, and brought back discrimination for those with pre-existing conditions. Following this vote, House Republicans went to the White House to celebrate.

It would have devastated our health care, and ultimately became the most unpopular legislation in three decades before dying in the Senate. And yet…

REPUBLICANS PLOTTING YET ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT REPEAL

This morning, The Hill reported:

Conservative groups are hoping to release a new ObamaCare replacement plan later this month as they try to keep alive the repeal effort. The effort has been led by the Heritage Foundation, the Galen Institute and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who have been meeting at Heritage’s offices, along with other groups, roughly once a week for months….‘The White House fully supports the efforts of a broad coalition working to address the Obamacare disaster and increase affordable healthcare options for middle-class Americans,’ deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said in a statement.

Just as Sen. Bill Cassidy did today through a spokesman, every Republican senator who has not called on the GOP to move on from their repeal and sabotage campaign should do so.  Enough is enough – it’s past time for the GOP to end their war on our health care.

SECRETARY TOM PRICE ADMITS GOP SABOTAGE CAUSING PREMIUM INCREASES

On Tuesday, former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price confirmed that President Trump and Congressional Republicans chose a trillion-dollar tax break for corporations and the wealthiest at the expense of hardworking Americans’ health care, repealing the individual mandate to finance a trillion-dollar tax break for the wealthiest and corporations.

Months ago when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the TrumpTax would raise premiums by ten percent while kicking millions of Americans off of their coverage, Republican senators responded by accusing CBO of bias and dismissing their findings. Now, one of the Trump Administration’s lead saboteurs has admitted the truth: Republicans are responsible for upcoming rate hikes.

NEW SURVEY FINDS: 4 MILLION AMERICANS HAVE LOST COVERAGE SINCE 2016

On Tuesday, the Commonwealth Fund released a new survey which found nearly 4 million people have lost coverage since 2016. The uninsured rate among working age people is now 15.5 percent, a significant increase from 12.7 percent in 2016. Why did this occur? As Axios noted, “Commonwealth attributes the increase largely to the way Congress and the Trump administration has handled the ACA.” And while this development was completely avoidable, Americans are not standing by…

RECLAIM IDAHO SUBMITS 60,000 SIGNATURES TO GET MEDICAID EXPANSION ON THE BALLOT

On Monday, organizers from Reclaim Idaho, in a state which Donald Trump carried by more than thirty points, submitted the more than 60,000 signatures necessary to get a Medicaid expansion vote on the ballot come November.

While Gov. Butch Otter was working to sabotage the ACA, the people of Idaho were working to secure a vote on covering 62,000 more of their neighbors by expanding Medicaid. This week they succeeded, and Republican-governed states would do well to take heed: when you actively work to make your constituents’ health coverage worse, citizens take matters into their own hands.

Congratulations to the people of Idaho! We couldn’t imagine a better way to cap off this year’s Medicaid Awareness Month.

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“Trump’s Former Top Health Official Just Broke With Him On The GOP’s Biggest Move To Undercut Obamacare”: Tom Price Admits That Trump, GOP Sabotage Responsible for Higher Costs

This morning, former HHS Secretary Tom Price admitted what every health policy expert, the Congressional Budget Office, state insurance commissioners – namely everyone other than repeal-supporting Republicans – has long said: the Trump Administration is responsible for the increase in premiums. Speaking of the repeal of the individual mandate, Price said, “And there are many, and I’m one of them, who believes that that actually will harm the pool in the exchange market, because you’ll likely have individuals who are younger and healthier not participating in that market, and consequently, that drives up the cost for other folks within that market.” Here’s how it played:

Washington Post: Trump’s Former Health Secretary: Americans Will Pay More Because GOP Weakened Obamacare. “President Trump’s former top health official on Tuesday said the Republican tax law would raise the cost of health insurance for some Americans because it repealed a core provision of the Affordable Care Act. Tom Price, Trump’s first secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said people buying insurance on government-run marketplaces will face higher prices because the tax law repealed the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. The mandate had forced most Americans to have health coverage or face a financial penalty.” [Washington Post, 5/1]

Business Insider: Trump’s Former Top Health Official Just Broke With Him On The GOP’s Biggest Move To Undercut Obamacare. “Tom Price, the former Health and Human Services Secretary under President Donald Trump, criticized a key Republican change to Obamacare during a speech Tuesday. Speaking at the World Health Care Congress, Price suggested the Republican Party’s repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate — the requirement to buy insurance or face a penalty — was a faulty idea. He said it would drive up costs for people in the individual insurance marketplace.” [Business Insider, 5/1]

Vox: Trump’s Ex-Health Secretary Accidentally Told The Truth About Obamacare Repeal. “Repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate will hurt the law’s insurance marketplaces because fewer young and healthy people will buy coverage, leaving an older, sicker, and more expensive pool behind. Just ask, uh, former Trump health secretary Tom Price. Price, who was forced out of the US Health and Human Services Department last year after a scandal over luxurious charter jet travel, accurately described the pitfalls of the GOP’s decision to repeal the mandate in its tax bill in a speech to the World Health Care Congress in Washington, DC. This is, of course, exactly what health policy experts would tell you. The mandate didn’t quite work as well as planned, but the expectation is still that younger and healthier people are going to leave the Obamacare markets without it — especially with the Trump administration making cheaper, less comprehensive plans more available via regulation.” [Vox, 5/1]

Slate: Tom Price, Somewhat Belatedly, Starts Telling the Truth About Obamacare. “It took longer than expected, but disgraced former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price appears to have been welcomed back into polite society. Untethered from the political concerns that dictated what he could say either as a congressman or Cabinet member, Price is now able to tell certain truths about health care policy—though, in telling them now, he only confirms his own dishonesty about them when it mattered. Speaking at the World Health Care Congress on Tuesday morning, Price laid out the consequences of congressional Republicans’ decision to eliminate the individual mandate penalty in last year’s tax reform bill.” [Slate, 5/1]

Washington Times: Tom Price: Repeal Of Obamacare Mandate Will Drive Up Costs. “Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said Tuesday the GOP’s decision to repeal Obamacare’s individual mandate without a broader overhaul of the heath care system will likely increase costs on consumers who remain in the program. The comments from Mr. Price, who was ousted from HHS last fall over his pricey business travel, were remarkable, since he claimed the mandate was ineffective while in office. Also, Democrats have been making the same argument in accusing President Trump and his Republican allies of sabotaging the 2010 law’s marketplace.” [Washington Times, 5/1]

USA Today: Former HHS Sec. Price: Repealing The Individual Mandate ‘Will Harm’ People Insured Through Obamacare. “Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said Tuesday that repealing the requirement that all Americans have health insurance or face a tax penalty, may not have been such a good idea after all… Price’s comments come the same day the Commonwealth Fund, a foundation that studies health care and says it is focused on helping the most needy members of society, came out with a study that found since 2016 4 million working-age people no longer have insurance coverage. The foundation said the drop in coverage was not connected to a repeal in the individual mandate but instead due to  weaknesses with the current health care law that remain unfixed and the Trump Administration’s cuts to advertising and outreach related to getting people signed up for Obamacare.” [USA Today, 5/1]

CNBC: Trump’s Former Health Secretary, Tom Price, Now Thinks Repealing The Individual Mandate Will Increase Costs. “ormer Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price used to say that Obamacare’s individual mandate increased health-care costs. Now he’s saying Congress’ decision to repeal it could actually increase costs. Lawmakers repealed the individual mandate, which penalized people who did not purchase health insurance, in the GOP tax reform bill President Donald Trump signed into law in December. The change goes into effect next year. Price argued Tuesday, in a speech at the World Health Care Congress in Washington, that the move amounts to ‘nibbling at the sides’ of the Affordable Care Act, long a target of the GOP and Trump – and that it would probably boost costs.” [CNBC, 5/1]

Splinter News: Tom Price, Disgraced Ex-Trump Official, Admits He’s Also a Huge Liar. “Price said he ‘believes [the repeal] actually will harm the pool in the exchange market, because you’ll likely have individuals who are younger and healthier not participating in that market, and consequently, that drives up the cost for other folks within that market.’ This is a very interesting development, given that last year, when he was actually in a position to influence whether or not this happened, he supported the repeal.” [Splinter News, 5/1]

The Hill: Tom Price: Obamacare Mandate Repeal Will Drive Up Costs. “Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price on Tuesday said that the repeal of ObamaCare’s individual mandate would drive up costs, a remark seized on by Democrats… Democrats immediately highlighted the remark from President Trump’s own former health secretary and fierce opponent of ObamaCare. They say his statement reinforces the argument that Republicans are to blame for coming premium increases in large part due to their repeal in the December tax bill of the mandate that most people obtain health insurance or pay a fine. ‘We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves,’ Matt House, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), said in email linking to Price’s comments. Added Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), ‘I’m glad to see former Secretary Price admit the truth, which is that families’ premiums are going up because President Trump and Republicans in Congress have spiked prices with their relentless, partisan health care sabotage.’” [The Hill, 5/1]

Inside Health Policy: Price: Individual Mandate Repeal Will Drive Up Costs, Hurt Risk Pools. “Former HHS Secretary Tom Price, who was at the helm of HHS during the Trump administration’s 2017 efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, told attendees at the 2018 World Health Care Congress that he is not a fan of the repeal of the federal individual mandate penalty and said the measure tucked into the new tax law will drive up costs and hurt the risk pools.” [Inside Health Policy, 5/1]

Talking Points Memo: Tom Price: Individual Mandate Repeal Will ‘Harm’ Insurance Exchanges. “Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price, now safely out of power, said Tuesday that Republicans’ repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate will ‘harm’ the individual insurance marketplace… Price is making a mundane point to most health care policy experts: If, beginning in 2019, individuals on the non-group market are allowed to avoid choosing between paying for insurance or paying a penalty, many healthy people will simply drop their insurance. As a result, prices for individuals remaining in Obamacare’s individual insurance marketplaces will go up. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2016, and again in 2017, that repealing the individual mandate would increase the number of uninsured people in the United States.” [TPM, 5/1]

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Republicans Knew Premiums Would Go Up When They Sabotaged Your Health Care, But They Did It Anyway

For the past year and a half, Republicans have waged a non-stop war against the Affordable Care Act. Throughout 2017, Republicans tried time after time to repeal the Affordable Care Act, slashed funding for outreach, ended cost-sharing reduction payments that helped low income Americans afford health care, and passed a tax bill that the Congressional Budget Office predicts will strip health care from 13 million Americans and raise premiums by double digits.  

Throughout their many layers of sabotage, Republicans have played ignorant, trying to cover up the fact that their votes will send Americans’ premiums skyrocketing. Just this morning, former HHS Secretary Tom Price called out Republicans’ lies, saying that the tax bill’s repeal of the individual mandate “will harm the pool in the exchange market, because you’ll likely have individuals who are younger and healthier not participating in that market, and consequently, that drives up the cost for other folks within that market.”

Just one month after voting for a tax bill that the CBO projected would raise insurance premiums by double digits, Sen. Ted Cruz acted as though he had wanted to lower premiums the whole time: “I think lowering premiums is a win-win for everybody…The number one reason people despise Obamacare is that premiums have skyrocketed.” As much as Republicans try to distance themselves from it, the fact of the matter is clear: they knew they were voting to raise premiums, and they chose to do it anyway.

EACH STEP OF THE WAY, EXPERTS WARNED THAT SABOTAGE WOULD DRIVE PREMIUMS UP

The Trump Administration Deliberately Tried To Reduce Enrollment Of Healthy Individuals By Halting Outreach, Despite Commonly Understood Consequence That This Would Increase Premiums.

  • January 2017: In “Transparent Effort To Damage Stability Of Health Insurance Marketplace,” President Trump Abruptly Halts Open Enrollment Ads. In the final week of open enrollment, President Trump ended ads that let people know they could sign up for the Affordable Care Act. As Politico notes, “The last five days of the open enrollment season are seen as critical because many individuals procrastinate and then join a last-minute sign-up surge. That’s particularly true for younger and healthier customers who are crucial to making insurance markets work.”
  • February 2017: Analysis Shows Trump’s Cuts To Outreach Prevent Nearly 500,000 People From Getting Coverage. Following Trump’s initial cuts to outreach, it was estimated that Trump’s cuts blocked nearly 500,000 people from getting coverage. When fewer healthy people are able to purchase care, experts agree that premiums increase.
  • August 2017: Trump Administration Cuts Aca Advertising Budget By 90 Percent, Despite Evidence That It Will Cause Premiums To Increase. [Vox, 8/31/17]
  • Because The Administration Still Refuses To Adequately Fund Outreach, Insurance Commissioners Warn That Premiums Will Continue To Increase. Peter Lee, the head of California’s ACA Marketplace wrote in a letter to HHS that premiums would go up because of the Administration’s failure to properly fund outreach: “The reality is clear: If the federal government maintains the current cuts in marketing and outreach, premiums will be higher than necessary, consumers will be hurt as a result and taxpayers will pay the price by supporting higher [than] necessary subsidies. This does not need to happen and can easily be avoided…Drops in new enrollment are a formula for a worse risk mix and higher premiums.” [Letter to HHS, 4/25/18]

Months Before The Trump Administration Ended Payments That Helped Lower Income Americans Afford Insurance, The CBO Warned That Doing So Would Raise Premiums By 20 Percent. President Trump Ended Them Anyway:

  • August 2017: CBO Warns That Premiums Will Increase By 20 Percent If Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments Are Terminated. “If President Trump follows through on his threat to stop paying billions of dollars of subsidies critical to insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, insurance premiums for certain plans would rise by 20 percent next year, according to a new analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.” [Washington Post, 8/15/17]
  • October 2017: Trump Administration Decides To Halt Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments. Despite the CBO’s warning that ending cost-sharing reduction payments (CSRs) would cause premiums to rise by 20%, the Trump Administration decided to do so anyways. [Washington Post, 10/13/17]
  • After The Fact, Insurance Commissioners Did Exactly What The Cbo Said Would Happen — They Raised Premiums. Jessica Altman, Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner: “This is not the situation I hoped we would be in, but due to President Trump’s refusal to make cost-sharing reduction payments for 2018 and Congress’s inaction to appropriate funds, it is the reality that state regulators must face and the reason rate increases will be higher than they should be across the country.” [CNN Money, 10/17/17]
  • Now, Research Confirms That Ending CSRs Caused Premiums To Jump, And Is Expected To Do So Again In 2019. RWJ’s interviews with ten insurance companies found that the loss of cost-sharing reduction plan reimbursements drove premium increases in 2018 ranging from 10 to 20 percent. [Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urban Institute, 3/19/18]

Republicans Knew That Repealing The Requirement That Most People Have Insurance Would Drive Up Premiums, And Rushed To Do So Without Public Comment:

  • November 2017: Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Estimates That Repealing The Individual Mandate Will Push Premiums Up By 10 Percent Annually. Last fall, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released numbers that repealing the requirement that most people have insurance would increase premiums by roughly 10 percent each year for the next decade. [Congressional Budget Office, November 2017]
  • November 2017: Sen. Susan Collins Acknowledges That Repealing Individual Mandate Would Raise Premiums. “‘One of the major concerns I had was the impact on premiums of repealing the individual mandate,’ [Collins] said Tuesday, referring to government estimates that repealing the mandate would raise insurance premiums by at least 10 percent as healthier consumers leave the market.” [Talking Points Memo, 11/29/17]
  • December 2017: Republican Senate Hurries To Pass Final Gop Tax Bill, Which Repeals Individual Mandate Despite Cbo Analysis That It Will Drive Premiums Up, In The Dark Of The Night And Without Public Hearings. Senate Republicans were determined to stop discussion on their tax bill from ever seeing the light of day. In December, they passed their tax bill in a matter of weeks, without hearing any public hearings. The process was so rushed that entire pagers were crossed out of the final version of the bill, and amendments were handwritten and barely legible.

After Sen. Collins Exchanged Her Vote On The Tax Bill For A Promise To Pass ACA Stabilization, Republicans Sabotage Bipartisan Efforts To Pass Bill That Would Help Control Premium Hikes:

  • December 2017: To Counteract The Increase In Premiums That Would Follow Repealing The Individual Mandate, Sen. Susan Collins Exchanges Tax Bill Vote For Aca Stabilization Bill. Sen. In exchange for her vote on the GOP tax bill, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, President Trump, and Vice President Trump committed to passing a health care stabilization measure. [Washington Post, 12/15/17]
  • March 2018: After Pushing The Stabilization Vote Into The Next Year, Republicans Refused To Vote On Stabilization Unless Democrats Agreed To A List Of Deal Breaking Demands. In the middle of bipartisan negotiations on stabilization, the White House released its list of demands, including: Expanding the Hyde abortion language, codifying the Administration’s Short-Term proposal into law that undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions, expanding Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) that is essentially another tax cut for the wealthy, mposing an age tax on older Americans by letting insurers charge people over 50 five times more than younger people. [White House Document, obtained by Politico, 3/8/18]
  • March 2018: There Is No Vote On Stabilization. [New York Magazine, 3/26/18]

Ignoring Warnings From Health Insurers, Trump Administration Proposes Changes To Short-Term Health Plans That Would Drive Up Premiums For Americans In Individual Marketplace:

  • July 2017: In Letter To HHS, America’s Health Insurance Plans Warns That Allowing Short-Term Plans To Offer Coverage For More Than Three Months At A Time Will Drive Up Premiums. “A blanket extension of the permitted length of short term policies will draw lower risk people out of the individual market single risk pool and drive up premium costs for consumers.” [America’s Health Insurance Plans Letter To HHHS, 7/12/17]
  • October 2017: President Trump Signs Executive Order That Expands Access To Short-Term Health Plans. President Trump’s executive order allows short-term plans to last for 12 months and be renewable, a notable change from the previous rule, which limited these plans to three months and prevented them from being renewed. [The Atlantic, 10/12/17]
  • February 2018: Administration Releases Fact Sheet On Short-Term Rule That Would Allow Insurers To Sell Year-Long Plans. [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2/20/18]
  • March 2018: Nonpartisan Urban Institute Says Premiums Will Increase By Nearly 20 Percent. Confirming what experts had warned of, the Urban Institute calculated that increasing the availability of short-term health plans, when combined with the repeal of the individual mandate, would lead premiums to increase by an average of 18.3 percent in 2019. [Urban Institute, March 2019]
  • March 2018: AARP Analysis Projects Short-Term Plans Will Cause Older Americans’ Premiums To Increase By 16.6 Percent. As a result of President Trump and his Republican allies’ pushing junk insurance plans, AARP expects premiums for older Americans buying marketplace health coverage to increase by an average of 16.6 percent in 2019.  [AARP, 3/21/18]

Each Of The Administration’s Decisions Is Designed Drive People Off Of Health Care And Increase Premiums:

  • Katherine Hempstead, health insurance expert at Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Anything That Undermines The ACA-Compliant Risk Pool Is Bad For Premiums.  “Anything that undermines the ACA-compliant risk pool is bad for premiums in the ACA market…Every exit ramp makes that market more expensive and less competitive than it otherwise would be.” [Modern Healthcare, 4/26/18]

NOW, THE CONSENSUS IS IN: REPUBLICANS KNOWINGLY DROVE UP PREMIUMS

Vox: Republican Sabotage To Blame For Premium Hikes. “The Trump administration’s multifaceted crusade against the health care law — slashing outreach budgets and pulling the law’s cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers — were already to blame for a 20 percent premium hike this year. Then Congress repealed the individual mandate in their tax bill, a huge political victory given the GOP’s vehement opposition to the mandate but one that insurers have said would drive up premiums even more next year.” [Vox, 4/25/18]

Washington Post: “The Pottery Barn Rule Comes To Mind: You Break It, You Own It.” “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 Pottery Barn rule comes to mind: You break it, you own it. Yes, the plate you just shattered had some cracks in it. But if you dropped it on the ground, the store is going to blame you.” [Washington Post, 10/13/17]

The American People Agree: President Trump And Congressional Republicans Are Playing Politics With People’s Health Care. A poll conducted last September found that 61 percent of voters believed President Trump was “trying to make the Affordable Care Act fail,” and 64 percent of voters said Trump is “playing politics with people’s health care.” The poll also found that the American people seriously disapprove of how Republicans in Congress are treating health care: 80 percent of voters disapprove while only 20 percent approve. [Garin Poll, 9/5/17]

RECENT HEADLINES PAINT A TELLING PICTURE

EVEN REPUBLICANS ADMIT THEY’RE TO BLAME

Sen. Lamar Alexander: “Rates Will Go Up…They’re Going To Blame Every One Of Us, And They Should.” On the topic of failing to pass a stabilization bill, Sen. Alexander said: “Rates will go up. The individual market will probably collapse…There will be 11 million people who are between jobs, who are self-employed, who are working, who literally cannot afford insurance, and they’re not going to be very happy. And they’re going to blame every one of us, and they should.” [Vox, 4/25/18]

Lindsey Graham: Republicans “Own The Outcome” On Health Care. “Sen. Graham told Breitbart News, ‘In October, premiums are going up. Obamacare cannot be fixed. It’s going to continue to collapse, and then, we own the outcome. By repealing the individual mandate, which is a step forward in the eyes of the public, we own the issue. We have a responsibility to do something about the collapsing Obamacare system. I believe that we’re going to get blamed more than Democrats because we stopped trying to repeal Obamacare, and to suggest that we don’t own it is just simply politically naive.’ Graham continued, ‘It can hurt us in 2018. It can hurt by our base feeling like we betrayed them. It can hurt us from people suffering from Obamacare, like we don’t have a solution. It will energize Democrats. It can undercut everything we did on the tax cut side.'” [Breitbart, 2/6/18]

Rep. Charlie Dent: Republicans “Own” Health Care Now. “Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) argued Friday that President Trump was ‘ill-advised’ to end key ObamaCare payments, warning that the GOP now ‘owns’ whatever happens to ObamaCare. ‘I think the president is ill-advised to take this course of action because … we, the Republican Party, will own this,’ Dent, a key House moderate who is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, said on CNN. Asked about Trump’s previous comments blaming problems with ObamaCare on former President Barack Obama, Dent pointed out that Republicans currently control the White House and have majorities in both chambers of Congress. ‘Barack Obama is a former president. President Trump is the president and he’s a Republican, and we control the Congress,’ Dent said. ‘So we own the system now. We’re going to have to figure out a way to stabilize this situation … This is on us.'” [The Hill, 10/13/17]

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In News, Administration, Stories

Ex-Secretary Tom Price: Trump and GOP Responsible For Upcoming Rate Hikes

Washington, D.C. – In response to former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price’s comments this morning to the World Health Care Congress that Republicans’ TrumpTax bill and its individual mandate repeal will increase Americans’ health care costs, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“Today, President Trump’s own former HHS secretary, Tom Price, admitted that the Republican tax bill’s sabotage of the Affordable Care Act will increase health care costs. Ex-Secretary Price has confirmed that President Trump and Congressional Republicans chose a trillion-dollar tax break for corporations and the wealthiest at the expense of hardworking Americans’ health care. Months ago when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the TrumpTax would raise premiums by ten percent while kicking millions of Americans off of their coverage, Republican senators responded by accusing CBO of bias and dismissing their findings. Now, one of the Trump Administration’s lead saboteurs has admitted the truth. Americans now have it straight from Tom Price: Republicans are responsible for upcoming rate hikes.”

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