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Pre-existing conditions

ashoup
In News, Administration

A Vote for Brett Kavanaugh is a Vote Against Health Care for Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions, Women & Americans Over 50

Since day one, President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have waged a war on America’s healthcare. They tried and failed to repeal health care through legislation and are now trying to take it away in the courts. President Trump has gone to court to make protections millions of people with a pre existing conditions, people over 50 and women rely on illegal, and overturning the law was a litmus test for picking a nominee. Brett Kavanaugh is on record criticizing previous Supreme Court decisions that protected healthcare and has said the President doesn’t have to enforce current laws. It is likely that one or more partisan legal challenges to affordable health care will make it to the Supreme Court and this seat could tip the balance.

At Risk: Protections For 130 Million Americans With A Pre-Existing Condition

Roughly half of non-elderly American adults and one in 4 children, or up to 130 million people, have at least one pre-existing condition. That includes everyone with cancer, diabetes,asthma, and any form of mental health issue or drug abuse problem.  Prior to the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies were able to discriminate against them, by charging them more, dropping coverage once people got sick, or denying coverage altogether. The ACA banned all of those practices, providing health security to millions.

Ending protections for people with pre-existing conditions is the official policy of the Trump Administration. The Trump Administration’s Department of Justice has taken the extraordinary step of joining the latest partisan lawsuit that seeks to strike down the ACA and has argued the Courts put Americans at the mercy of insurance companies by overturning provisions in the law that now prevent insurance companies from denying coverage completely or charging people more because of a pre-existing condition. Experts estimate that even if a cancer patient could get covered, they would have to pay as much as $140,000 a year more in premiums.

At Risk: Protections for Women and People Over 50

But that’s not all! If successful, the lawsuit joined by the Justice Department would also get rid of protections that prevent insurance companies from charging women and adults over 50 more for their health care coverage. Put another way, if these protections are taken away, we would go back to a time when older Americans could be charged an “age tax” of up to five times more for the same coverage as someone younger and women could be charged up to 50 percent more, just because they are women. Studies by AARP say premiums for someone over 50 could go up by more than $4,000 a year.

At Risk: Women’s Health Care

  • Access to safe and legal abortion: By age 45, one in four women in the U.S. has had an abortion, for reasons that are deeply personal. But Brett Kavanaugh has used his power as a judge to prevent a pregnant young woman from accessing a safe and legal abortion she wanted. His track record, coupled with Trump’s campaign promises to only appoint justices who will overturn Roe vs. Wade, put women’s right to safe and legal abortion in jeopardy.
  • Birth control coverage: Thanks to the ACA, 62.4 million women now have access to birth control with no out-of-pocket costs. Women saved $1.4 billion on birth control pills alone in 2013. Three courts of appeals are considering the Trump Administration’s roll back of the birth control benefit under the ACA, allowing any employer to deny coverage.
  • Access to Planned Parenthood: One in five women have turned to Planned Parenthood for care at some point in their lives for a wide range of health and education services, but numerous state and federal efforts are underway to block low-income women from continuing to rely on this provider of choice for so many. Currently, three cases working their way through the courts challenge state actions to prevent Planned Parenthood patients’ access to birth control and other preventive care.
  • Coverage for nursing moms:  Following the ACA, which helped give new moms access to lactation consultants, breast pumps, and time and space at work to pump their milk until as late as a year after birth, the rate of women breastfeeding 12 months after giving birth rose from 27 percent to 34 percent, the largest increase in any recent three-year period. Two court cases challenging the breast-feeding services available to moms at no cost under the ACA, however, could jeopardize these gains for maternal and infant health.

At Risk: Medicaid Coverage and Eligibility

Medicaid is a lifeline for one in five people, providing critical preventive care, substance use treatment, acute care, and more to more than 70 million people. Medicaid is the primary provider for long-term care in the country, covering 6 in 10 nursing home residents, is also the primary provider to help people with disabilities stay in their homes, and pays for roughly half of the births in this country.

But the Trump Administration has launched a new assault on Medicaid enrollees by pushing states to adopt rigid rules (so-called “work requirements”) that create burdensome paperwork requirements designed to kick people off coverage. These new rules are working their way through the courts and could very well make their way to the high court before long.

The bottom line: Brett Kavanaugh was hand-picked to be a rubber stamp on Trump’s anti health care agenda. That’s why health care is on the line in if Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed.

ashoup
In News, Administration

“This is How Health Care Disparities Are Exacerbated”: Trump Administration Slashes Funds To Navigators That Help People Purchase Health Care

On Tuesday, the Trump Administration escalated its war on Americans’ health care by announcing it would be slashing funding for navigators, who assist people in finding quality, affordable coverage, and directing these navigators to steer people to junk plans, which don’t have to provide consumer protections like those for pre-existing conditions.

Here’s what their decision means, and how Americans will be harmed by the Administration’s actions:

New York Times: Navigator Cuts Are Next Step In An “Escalating Attack” On The Affordable Care Act. “The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it was slashing grants to nonprofit organizations that help people obtain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the latest step in an escalating attack on the law that threatens to destabilize its insurance markets.” [New York Times, 7/10/18]

HHS Slashes Funding Available For Groups That Help People Sign Up For Marketplace Coverage By $26 Million.”A total of just $10 million will be available nationwide for the next enrollment season — down from $36 million for this year, and $63 million for last year…In addition to slashing navigators’ funding, CMS is also pushing navigators to sign people up for the non-ACA options the Trump administration has expanded — association health plans and cheaper, skimpier short-term policies.” [Axios, 7/11/18]

We Have Already Seen How Much Of An Impact These Cuts Have. “Last year’s cut forced navigators to lay off staff, cancel events, and, in some cases, cease operations altogether. This new cut will leave navigators with just a fraction of the money they had available for the open enrollment periods that occurred during President Barack Obama’s administration ― in all likelihood hampering their ability to help consumers through the complicated process of choosing a health insurance policy and applying for financial assistance.” [Huffington Post, 7/10/18]

Trump Administration Claims Nonprofit Navigator Groups Do Worse Job Helping People Find Coverage Than Insurance Agents And Commercial Brokers. “Trump administration officials said the insurance counselors, known as navigators, did not enroll enough people to justify more spending. Insurance agents and brokers do much better, they said.” [New York Times, 7/10/18]

Administration Fundamentally Shifts Mission Of Navigator Groups, Instructing Them To Encourage People To Sign Up For Junk Plans That Are Exempt From Key Consumer Protections. “They will, for the first time, help people enroll in health insurance plans that do not comply with the consumer protection standards and other requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Since they began work in 2013, navigators have helped people enroll in health plans that comply with the Affordable Care Act. Now the Trump administration says they should also inform consumers of other options, like ‘association health plans’ and short-term, limited-duration insurance. Such plans do not have to provide the standard health benefits like preventive services, maternity care or prescription drug coverage, but administration officials say they will also be more affordable to consumers.” [New York Times, 7/10/18]

New York Magazine: “The Trump White House Has Been Busy Separating Migrant Families And Plotting The Demise Of Roe V. Wade In Recent Weeks, But Don’t Worry: They Haven’t Forgotten About Their Quest To Make It Harder For Americans To Obtain Adequate Health Insurance.” “But the administration isn’t just making it more difficult for people to enroll in Obamacare. Going forward, the administration wants navigators to steer clients into skimpier health coverage. While nonprofits operating under the navigator program were previously forbidden from recommending particular health plans, now groups that apply for the grants will be expected to encourage people to buy association health plans or short-term insurance plans.” [New York Magazine, 7/11/18]

Navigator Cuts Will Do More Than Just Suppress ACA Enrollment, They Will Likely Also Reduce Enrollment In Medicaid And CHIP. “Consumers who use navigators frequently end up enrolling in Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program or other special programs ― or simply enrolling on their own, at home, after long consultation with navigators. As a result, they don’t show up as enrolling in the private marketplace plans, which is the metric CMS is using to judge navigator performance. Navigators also target people with special needs, including those with complicated medical or financial situations that make eligibility for federal programs confusing. These are precisely the sorts of people who might not respond to routine advertising or find the help they need through commercial brokers.” [Huffington Post, 7/10/18]

NAVIGATOR GROUP LEADERS WARN THAT CUTS WILL HURT UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS

Fred Ammons, Supervises Insure Georgia Navigator Group: This Means Less Help To Underserved Populations. “This is a huge cut to navigator programs across the country. It will virtually eliminate face-to-face in-person assistance. It means less help, much less help, to underserved, hard-to-reach populations, people who live in rural areas or have low literacy or don’t speak English as their primary language.” [New York Times, 7/10/18]

Jodi Ray, Project Director For Florida Covering Kids And Families: We Will Be Put in Awful Position Of Pitting Populations Against Each Other. “This is pretty terrible, We will be put in the awful position of pitting populations that need assistance against each other, in order to prioritize how we can use the resources. This also does not take into account all the kinds of assistance navigators provide all year, such as helping with complex cases and issues and filing appeals. Florida will definitely be hit hard by this.” [Huffington Post, 7/10/18]

  • Ray: “This Is How Health Care Disparities Are Exacerbated.” [Kaiser Health News, 7/12/18]

Catherine Edwards, Executive Director Of Missouri Association Of Area Agencies On Aging: Administration Is “Strangling” Navigator Program. “They’re just strangling the program…They couldn’t kill the program in Congress, so they are cutting the money.” [Washington Post, 7/10/18]

William Hoagland, Bipartisan Policy Center Senior Vice President: “It Does Send A Signal Of Course That The Administration Is Not Promoting Enrollment.” “Combined with other recent actions by the Trump administration, the decision sets a negative tone, Hoagland said. ‘It does send a signal of course that the administration is not promoting enrollment,’ he said.” [Kaiser Health News, 7/12/18]

Elizabeth Hagen, Senior Health Consultant: Shifting Focus To Junk Plans Will Lead Consumers To Plans That Don’t Reflect THeir Needs. “CMS now wants the navigators to promote these policies in addition to steering people toward ACA-compliant plans and Medicaid. This adds to the concern about the lack of navigator funding. The availability of such new types of coverage will increase consumer demand for specially trained navigators, said Elizabeth Hagan, a senior consultant with Transform Health, a consulting firm. She said the problem with reducing consumer assistance is not so much that fewer people will buy coverage but that people will buy policies that don’t fit their needs.”  [Kaiser Health News, 7/12/18]

Mark Van Arnam, Director of North Carolina Navigator Consortium: Cuts Will Be Devastating To People Who Need Assistance To Find Coverage. “They are the public face of the Affordable Care Act in North Carolina for legions of residents stumped by the complexities of health insurance. But next year, ACA navigators — the trained instructors who explain health benefits and help people enroll — will be harder to find as a result of federal funding cuts. The Trump administration announced Tuesday it would could nationwide funding for navigators by 72 percent, from $36 million to $10 million. In North Carolina, which has consistently had the nation’s highest enrollments, the navigator budget will be cut by 85 percent — from $3.4 million to $500,000. ‘These are significant cuts,’ said Mark Van Arnam, director of the N.C. Navigator Consortium. ‘There’s a large portion of the population that we talk to that doesn’t understand the ACA and needs assistance.’” [News & Observer, 7/12/18]

ashoup
In News, Administration

Orrin Hatch Admits GOP Coming for Pre-Existing Conditions and Medicaid

 

Today, Sen. Orrin Hatch said this:

In other words, Sen. Hatch knows that the Affordable Care Act will – yet again – be on trial in the nation’s court system. In fact, there are two ways this is currently happening:

  1. In Texas v. United States, an ongoing lawsuit, the Trump Administration has joined with Republican attorneys general to argue that protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions should be struck down.
  2. Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court represents a drastic attack on Medicaid. Should Kavanaugh be confirmed, he will have the chance to dramatically reshape Medicaid, transforming it into a much more restrictive program:
    • Kavanaugh could allow states to impose onerous work requirements designed to make it harder for people to get the coverage they need;
    • Kavanaugh could deny individuals and providers the right to sue when a state’s medicaid program isn’t complying with the law;
    • Kavanaugh could exclude prevent medicaid from covering health care at planned parenthood, and
    • Kavanaugh could end Medicaid expansion.

Put together, what does this all mean?

A vote to appoint Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is a vote against the 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions and the nearly 75 million Americans covered by Medicaid, and anyone who thinks otherwise need only look to Sen. Hatch.

ashoup
In News, Administration

Trump Administration Continues War On People With Pre-Existing Conditions By Suspending Billions In Risk Payments

This weekend, President Trump made another move in his war on health care. He suspended risk adjustment payments that help insurance companies offer more affordable coverage to everyone, regardless of if they are healthy or sick. By refusing to make risk adjustment payments — even though they don’t cost the taxpayer a single penny — President Trump and his Administration are making it harder for people with pre-existing conditions to access coverage, and driving up premiums for millions.

NATIONAL HEADLINES PAINT A TELLING STORY

  • Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: Trump Administration Yanks Health Care Away From Even More Americans. [7/10/18]
  • Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Latest Affordable Care Act Move Adds To Insurers’ Uncertainty. [7/8/18]
  • Los Angeles Times: Another Challenge For Obamacare — And A Bigger Bill For Taxpayers. [Los Angeles Times, 7/10/18]
  • Politico: Latest Obamacare Shake-up Could Fuel Rate Hikes. [Politico, 7/9/18]
  • New York Times: Health Insurers Warn Of Market Turmoil As Trump Suspends Billions In Payments. [7/7/18]
  • NPR: Trump Administration Freezes Payments Required By The Affordable Care Act. [NPR, 7/8/18]
  • Washington Post: Trump Administration Takes Another Major Swipe At The Affordable Care Act. [7/7/18]
  • Los Angeles Times: Trump Administration Freezes Billions Of Dollars In Payments To Obamacare Insurers. [7/8/18]
  • NPR: Why Health Insurance Premiums May Rise Next Year. [NPR, 7/9/18]
  • Associated Press: Trump Administration Takes Another Swipe At Obamacare.[Associated Press, 7/9/18]
  • USA Today: Trump Administration Freezes Payments Required By Affordable Care Act, Health Care Premiums Could Rise. [7/8/18]
  • Fortune: Trump Administration Freezes Payments To Affordable Care Act Insurers With Sicker Patients. [7/8/18]
  • Bloomberg: Trump Health Officials Toss Obamacare Insurers Another Curveball.[7/7/18]
  • Slate: It Sure Looks Like The Trump Administration Is Trying To Sabotage Obamacare Again. [7/8/18]
  • Bustle: What Does Trump’s Freeze On Obamacare Payments Mean? Premiums Could “Significantly Increase.” [7/9/18]

IN STATES, FEARS GROW AMONGST INSURANCE COMPANIES

  • Baltimore Sun: Maryland Insurers Say Trump Administration To Cut Health Payments Destabilizes Market. [7/9/18]
  • Chattanooga Times Free Press: Obamacare Payment Change Raises Worries For Individual Rates. [7/11/18]
  • Indianapolis Business Journal: Anthem Could Take Big Hit From Halt To Risk-Adjustment Payments. [7/10/18]
  • Star Tribune: Three Minnesota Health Plans Face Combined Hit Of $71.7 Million. [7/9/18]
  • Rutland Herald: ACA Changes Worry Vermont Health Care Officials. [7/9/18]
  • Georgia Health News: Insurers Caught Off Guard By Feds’ Freeze Of ACA ‘Sickness’ Payments. [7/9/18]
  • California Healthline: Health Insurers Struggle With Sudden Freeze On ACA Payouts. [7/10/18]
  • Associated Press: South Dakota Insurers May Take Hit After Payment Freeze. [7/10/18]

INSURANCE GROUPS, EXPERTS, AND PRESS CONDEMN ADMINISTRATION’S MOVE

America’s Health Insurance Plans: Decision To Halt Payments “Will Create More Market Uncertainty And Increase Premiums For Many Health Plans.” “We are very discouraged by the new market disruption brought about by the decision to freeze risk adjustment payments. This decision comes at a critical time when insurance providers are developing premiums for 2019 and states are reviewing rates. This decision will have serious consequences for millions of consumers who get their coverage through small businesses or buy coverage on their own. It will create more market uncertainty and increase premiums for many health plans – putting a heavier burden on small businesses and consumers, and reducing coverage options. And costs for taxpayers will rise as the federal government spends more on premium subsidies.” [AHIP, 7/7/18]

Sabrina Corlette, Health Policy Researcher At Georgetown: Administration Is Throwing Wrench Into Critical Program Whose Goal Is To Protect People With Pre-Existing Conditions Against Discrimination. “The government opted for ‘throwing a monkey wrench into a critical program whose primary goal is to protect people with pre-existing conditions from discrimination by insurers.’” [Minneapolis Star Tribune, 7/9/18]

Chicago Sun-Times: This Is Bad News For All Americans Who Believe Nobody Should Be Priced Out Of Basic Health Care To Save The Rest Of Us Buck. “That’s bad news for the chronically ill, the disabled, the elderly and all others whose health care costs can run considerably higher than average. It’s bad news, as well, for all Americans who believe that nobody should be priced out of basic health care just to save the rest of us a buck.” [Chicago Sun-Times, 7/10/18]

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: “Without Quick Resolution On This Matter, This Action Will Significantly Increase 2019 Premiums For Millions.” “Without a quick resolution to this matter, this action will significantly increase 2019 premiums for millions of individuals and small business owners and could result in far fewer health plan choices. It will undermine Americans’ access to affordable coverage, particularly for those who need medical care the most…The action taken today will create turmoil not only for those in the individual market – particularly as insurers finalize their offerings for the next open enrollment that begins in November – but also for the millions of businesses that rely on the small group market to provide affordable insurance options for their employees.” [Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, 7/7/18]

Bill Wehrle, Kaiser Permanente Vice President Of Health Insurance Exchanges: Effective Risk Adjustment Program Is “Crucial,” Especially For Those With Pre-Existing Conditions. “An effective risk adjustment program is crucial to the sound operation of a health insurance marketplace in which individuals, families and small businesses with health needs have access to more affordable, high-quality coverage…It enables the country to move away from a market where plans compete to avoid covering or charge more to people with preexisting health conditions, to one where competition is based on quality, affordable care for everyone.” [Baltimore Sun, 7/9/18]

Larry Levitt, Senior Vice President of Kaiser Family Foundation: “This Is One Of Several Steps The Trump Administration Has Taken To Undermine The ACA.” “‘Insurers hate uncertainty, and when faced with it tend to raise premiums to hedge their bets,” says Larry Levitt, Senior Vice President at the Kaiser Family Foundation. He says halting the risk adjustment program will disrupt the individual markets, and might even cause insurers not to participate next year. ‘When the rules of the game change after the fact – insurers don’t necessarily see the federal government as a particularly reliable partner right now,’ Levitt says. ‘This is one of several steps the Trump administration has taken to undermine the ACA.'” [NPR, 7/8/18]

Rodney Whitlock, Vice President of Health Policy At ML Strategies And Former Republican Congressional Aide: Administration’s Goal Is To Make Marketplace As Inhospitable As Possible For Participating Plans. “‘What you have to keep in mind is ultimately the intent of the administration,’ Whitlock says. “The executive order the president signed, not long after he got to the White House after the [Inaugural] Parade was effectively, ‘We’re declaring war on the Affordable Care Act.'” Whitlock says, the goal has been to make the marketplace as inhospitable as possible for participating plans, and this is just one more step in that direction.” [NPR, 7/8/18]

Washington Post: “The Suspension Of These Payments Is The Most Recent Maneuver By The Trump Administration To Undercut The Health-Care Law That President Trump Has Vowed Since His Campaign To Demolish.” “The suspension of these payments is the most recent maneuver by the Trump administration to undercut the health-care law that President Trump has vowed since his campaign to demolish. A Republican-led Congress last year failed to repeal much of the ACA. The administration has been taking steps to dismantle it through executive powers.” [Washington Post, 7/7/18]

Nicholas Bagley, University of Michigan Law Professor: “This Is No Way To Run A Health Program, And No Way To Run A Government.” “In another sense, however, the needless suspension of the risk adjustment program is a signal that the Trump administration remains intent on sabotage. Already, insurers were stiffed on their risk corridor money. Then the cost-sharing payments evaporated. Now, even risk adjustment money may go up in smoke. What’s next? This is no way to run a health program, and no way to run a government.” [Nicholas Bagley, 7/9/18]

Los Angeles Times: Halted Risk Payments Will Burden Taxpayers. “But it will be painful for at least two groups of Americans. The first includes the people who aren’t covered by a large employer’s plan and who earn too much money to qualify for federal subsidies. They’d be facing higher premiums anyway, thanks to the rising cost of healthcare. But the increase will be larger than it should be courtesy of the Trump administration’s handling of this issue…Meanwhile, people who earn less than 400% of the federal poverty level — for a family of four, that’s about $100,000 — are eligible for subsidies under the ACA that hold their premiums to a percentage of their personal income. No matter how much premiums go up, the subsidies absorb the change. As a consequence, the higher premiums rise, the more the subsidies cost federal taxpayers. Those are people who’ll bear most of the cost of freezing the risk adjustment transfers.” [Los Angeles Times, 7/10/18]

Risk Adjustment Decision Fits With Broader Pattern Of Trump Administration Using Courts To Sabotage ACA. “It’s hard not to wonder, though, whether someone in the White House belatedly realized this case was another untapped opportunity to spook insurers into spiking premiums, finding creative ways to repel sick people or leaving the market altogether. That would fit neatly into the administration’s broader pattern of using court cases as excuses to undermine the Affordable Care Act, after all. The others include killing reimbursements to insurers for subsidies for lower-income people, and refusing to defend the law’s protections for those with preexisting conditions.” [Washington Post, 7/9/18]

NPR: Not Surprising Trump Sided With New Mexico Given Republicans Have Been “Trying To Kill The Affordable Care Act For Quite A Long Time.” “It’s a little bit confusing because the court ruling was back in February. There’s an order in – out of New Mexico that said the formula for making the payments was unfair. But there’s a second court order in Massachusetts that held the opposite. So HHS seems to have chosen which side to take. They chose the New Mexico ruling, which isn’t all that surprising because the Trump administration up until now – and even Republicans before Trump became president – have been trying to kill the Affordable Care Act for quite a long time.” [NPR, Kodjak, 7/9/18]

ashoup
In News, Administration

Advocates Mount Defense of Health Care for Millions

Last night, President Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be the next Supreme Court justice. To be clear, Trump had two litmus tests in selecting Brett Kavanaugh for the Court:

1) overturning Roe v. Wade, and

2) overturning Americans’ health care by gutting protections for those with pre-existing conditions.

Across the country, health care advocates geared up in opposition, urging their senators to reject Judge Kavanaugh, an activist judge who was hand-picked to rubber-stamp President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ war on health care.

Here are some highlights, with more activity on the ground happening today.

In Alaska, Protect Our Care was joined by health care advocates, Alaska Native leaders, and former Alaska Superior Court Judge John Reese to urge Sen. Lisa Murkowski to do what is best for Alaska and reject a justice who won’t protect Alaskans’ care.

In Maine, Protect Our Care was joined by the Maine Women’s Lobby and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in calling on Sen. Susan Collins to protect pre-existing condition protections and women’s access to health care.

In Arizona, Jeff Jeans, a cancer survivor joined  state Rep. Athena Salman, and representatives from Planned Parenthood and ACLU Arizona urged Senator Flake to stand up for Arizonans’ care.

In Nevada, Protect Our Care and Laura Packard, a health care advocate living with cancer, Cyndy Hernandez of NARAL Pro-Choice Nevada, and Sam Shaw of SEIU Nevada Local 1107 urged Sen. Dean Heller to stand up and protect Nevadans’ health care.

In Ohio, Protect Our Care Ohio joined with Innovation Ohio, the Physicians Action Network, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio highlighted the current and long-term threats to health care under a conservative Supreme Court.

In Tennessee, Protect Our Care was joined by a coalition of concerned citizens including Jen Yamin, the mother of a son with pre-existing conditions, Kristen Grimm, the mother of child with special needs, and Anna Carella, Co-Chair of Healthy and Free Tennessee, outside Sen. Bob Corker’s Nashville office.

In West Virginia, Protect Our Care advocates went on the record to make it clear that they want their senators to stand up health care.

ashoup
In News, Administration

New Trump Sabotage Expected to Raise Premiums Even Further

Trump Gears Up for New Blow to Coverage Protections for People with Pre-existing Conditions

Washington, DC – In response to a Wall Street Journal report that the Trump administration is expected to further drive up rates for consumers by suspending the risk adjustment program, Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, issued the following statement:

“The Trump administration just keeps pushing their destructive repeal-and-sabotage agenda, no matter the cost to the American people. Following through with this latest act of sabotage could raise rates for all consumers even more — on top of the rate hikes they have already caused — and is without a doubt an escalation in the Trump administration’s war on people with pre-existing conditions. By redistributing funds from plans with ‘lower risk’ enrollees to ‘higher risk’ ones, the risk adjustment program is one important way the Affordable Care Act helps make health coverage affordable for people, particularly those with pre-existing conditions. We urge the Trump Administration to back off of this dangerous and destabilizing plan, and instead begin working on bipartisan solutions to make coverage more affordable.”

ashoup
In News, Administration

Health Care on the Line with Trump’s SCOTUS Pick

To: Interested Parties

From: Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care

Date: July 6, 2018

Re: Health Care on the Line with Trump’s SCOTUS Pick

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

For the last 18 months, President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have been waging a relentless war on our health care, resulting in millions of people losing coverage, double digit premium rate increases, and weakened protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Now, with the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, the President has an opportunity to tip the balance of the Supreme Court further in his favor and appoint a justice hostile to our health care, as he has repeatedly promised he would do. Make no mistake: our health care is on the line if Trump succeeds in appointing an extreme judge who will rubber stamp his anti-health care agenda.

Here’s why:

Trump’s Shortlist Includes Nominees Who Have Demonstrated Hostility to Health Care

Reportedly, President Trump has narrowed his list of potential justices to three people: Judges Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Raymond Kethledge. All three are on the Federalist Society-approved list of justices Trump released. The Federalist Society, as should be noted, has been fighting the Affordable Care Act (ACA) since before it was even signed into law and has consistently pushed judges very hostile toward women’s health.

Specifically, Judge Kavanaugh has argued that a president could declare a law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it “even if a court has held or would hold the statute constitutional.”

Judge Barrett has already written that she believed the ACA should have been declared unconstitutional, that Roe v Wade was “erroneous,” and the ACA’s birth control benefit was “an assault on religious liberty.”

Consumer Protections, Including Prohibitions on Discriminating Against the 130 Million People with Pre-Existing Conditions, Are At Risk

Prior to the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies were able to cherry pick who they wanted to cover and would often discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions by charging them more, dropping coverage once people got sick, or denying coverage altogether. The ACA banned all of those practices, providing health security to millions.

  • Roughly half of nonelderly American adults, or up to 130 million people, have at least one pre-existing condition.
  • Nationally, the most common pre-existing conditions were high blood pressure (44 million people), behavioral health disorders (45 million people), high cholesterol (44 million people), asthma and chronic lung disease (34 million people), and osteoarthritis and other joint disorders (34 million people).

These protections have consistently been the most popular component of the law among not only Democrats, but Republicans and Independents as well.

Nevertheless, President Trump has taken every opportunity he has had to dismantle the consumer protections and market reforms in the ACA. Though he failed to enact legislation to repeal the ACA, on his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to use whatever tools they could to undo as much of the ACA as it could. His administration has further taken actions to sabotage the law by allowing insurance companies to sell junk plans that do not have to cover people with pre-existing conditions, among other things.

Don’t forget: Trump campaigned on ending the ACA by any means necessary, and he had his sights on the Court from the very beginning. In fact, as a candidate Trump said he would have a “very strong test” for Supreme Court nominees, pointing to his “disappointment” in Chief Justice John Roberts, as “somebody that should have, frankly, ended Obamacare, and he didn’t.” As the leading coalition fighting against Republicans’ ongoing efforts to repeal and sabotage health care and working instead to protect coverage for millions of Americans, Protect Our Care knows that Trump’s meaning is clear: he has a litmus test for his Supreme Court nominees, and repealing the ACA is on that test.

After all, ending protections for people with pre-existing conditions is already the official policy of the Trump Administration. Normally, the Department of Justice (DOJ) defends federal law in court. However, the Trump Administration has taken the extraordinary step of joining the latest partisan lawsuit that seeks to invalidate the ACA and has argued the Court needs to take away the provisions in the law that prevent insurance companies from denying coverage or charging people more because of a pre-existing condition. If the Trump administration had its way, overnight the 130 million people with a pre-existing condition would once again be at the mercy of insurance companies.

This case should not be taken lightly — three prior challenges to the Affordable Care Act (NFIB, et al. v. Sebelius, King v. Burwell, Hobby Lobby v. Burwell) have made their way to the Supreme Court, despite early doubts among legal scholars.  

Women’s Health Care is on the Line

President Trump’s campaign promise to appoint biased justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade — and the dangerous consequences of making safe abortion a crime in this country — have been widely reported. But many other women’s health services are under threat with this appointment. Among them:

Medicaid is Also at Risk

Medicaid is not only supported by three-quarters of Americans, it is a lifeline for one in five people, providing critical preventive care, substance use treatment, acute care, and more to more than 70 million people. Medicaid is the primary provider for long-term care in the country, covering 6 in 10 nursing home residents. It is also the primary provider to help people with disabilities stay in their homes, and pays for roughly half of the births in this country.

But the Trump Administration has launched a new assault on Medicaid enrollees by pushing states to adopt rigid rules (so-called “work requirements”) that are designed to be impossible for to be met and therefore prevent coverage. These new rules are just beginning to work their way through the courts, and while a federal district court judge recently blocked them in Kentucky, they could very well make their way to the high court soon.

THE BOTTOM LINE: All 100 Senators must reject a nominee that would take away, rather than protect, our care.

If Trump appoints an extreme nominee to the bench, and the Senate does not intervene, the balance of the court will turn against Americans’ right to health care. The Supreme Court should be a check on President Trump’s war on health care, not a rubber stamp on it.

ashoup
In News, Administration, Stories

“Justice Joins The Partisans”: Editorial Boards Across the Country Hammer Republicans’ Attack on Protections for 130 Million Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions

Earlier this month, the Trump Administration made the shocking decision to go to court to overturn protections allowing 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions to buy affordable health insurance. Following Republicans in Congress voting to repeal these protections, Trump joined a partisan lawsuit filed by 18 Republican state attorneys general and two Republican governors that would do just that. The lawsuit is wildly unpopular with the American public, with a new poll showing voters reject the move by a 2-1 margin.

Here’s what editorial boards around the country have been saying about the ongoing lawsuit, Texas v. United States:

Houston Chronicle: Texas Lawsuit To Kill Obamacare Will Claim Other Victims. “Trump’s Justice Department is supporting efforts by 20 states, including Texas, to strangle the Affordable Care Act. Killing Obamacare would keep a promise Trump made to a constituency he believes will win him a second term. The millions who will lose health coverage if Obamacare dies would be collateral damage to him… People with pre-existing conditions not only include those with epilepsy, cancer and diabetes, it could include pregnant women who didn’t already have insurance. Denying coverage to cancer patients and pregnant women or charging them exorbitant rates would be despicable… Texans have a lot to lose in this fight over health care. We need to let [Attorney General Ken Paxton] and [Senator Ted Cruz] know they are on the wrong side of a deadly proposition.” [Houston Chronicle, 6/24]

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette: Obamacare Dismantling Would Hit Hoosiers Hard. “It wasn’t that long ago that people could lose their health insurance coverage or be denied the opportunity to purchase a new policy because of a pre-existing condition. The Affordable Care Act put an end to such often-devastating outcomes. Now it’s possible America could return to those bad old days. If that happens, the Indiana attorney general’s office will be among the entities responsible… If Hill and his colleagues prevail, it could take America back to the days when people with cancer, diabetes, asthma or other long-term illnesses could once again find themselves unable to obtain health insurance, at least at a price they could afford to pay. According to Kaiser, that could include at least 30 percent of our state’s non-elderly adults – 1.175 million Hoosiers.” [Journal Gazette, 6/17]

Orlando Sentinel: Florida’s Attorney General Puts Partisan Loyalty Over Health Care For 1.7 Million Floridians. “If the lawsuit prevails, Obamacare’s core guarantee — access to health insurance for Americans with pre-existing conditions — will disappear, along with other provisions in the law. This is a serious threat for Florida, where 1.7 million people enrolled in the federal health-insurance exchange last year to buy policies under the law. More than 90 percent of them received federal subsidies to lower their cost for premiums. Taking aim at the law, when there is no backup in place, is a reckless partisan act by Bondi that mocks the description of her in her official biography as ‘an advocate for Florida’s consumers’ who has ‘worked tirelessly to protect the rights and safety of Floridians.’ The lawsuit demonstrates more loyalty to her two dozen pals in the Republican Attorneys General Association than those 1.7 million Floridians.” [Orlando Sentinel, 6/20]

Akron Beacon Journal: Justice Joins The Partisans In Another Attack On The Affordable Care Act. “Polls consistently show that Republicans and Democrats agree about the need to protect the health coverage of those Americans with pre-existing conditions. For all the division over the Affordable Care Act, both sides favor its provision barring insurers from denying coverage based on a person’s health status or medical history… What Justice now has embraced is another partisan effort to weaken the Affordable Care Act, though Republicans failed to advance a workable alternative. Recall that President Trump described the protection for pre-existing conditions as one of the law’s ;strongest assets.’ Now he wants to see its demise? Recall, too, that there is bipartisan support for repairing flaws in the act, providing certainty for those with pre-existing conditions and others in need of adequate and affordable health coverage.” [Beacon Journal, 6/26]

Gainesville Sun: Fight Efforts To Sabotage Health Care. “In the upcoming federal and state elections, voters should cast their ballots like their health care depends on it. For those with preexisting conditions, that certainly is the case. The Trump administration is now arguing in court that the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that insurers cover preexisting conditions is invalid, along with other parts of the law. It is the latest move by the administration to sabotage the ACA, following the repeal of the individual mandate in last year’s tax-cut legislation. The repeal and other changes approved by the administration are driving up insurance costs, threatening the health coverage of the 1.7 million Floridians and others who have obtained coverage through the federal marketplaces… We need lawmakers that push back on the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, not facilitate them further.” [Gainesville Sun, 6/17]

Minneapolis Star Tribune: States Launch Another Harmful Attack On The Affordable Care Act. “If courts eventually buy the case’s reasoning, then it is goodbye to the ACA components that have helped a lot of people. Among them: the premium assistance subsidies, the expanded eligibility for the publicly-run Medicaid program and the provision allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance until age 26. Also gone: the protections for those who have pre-existing medical conditions, though a few states like Minnesota may still have some state-level safeguards in place. Before the ACA, insurers on the individual market — which serves people who don’t have insurance through their jobs or a public program such as Medicare — didn’t have to cover people with asthma, diabetes, cancer or myriad other conditions. Returning to an era when sick people were priced out of coverage or barred by insurers from buying it is unacceptable.”[Star Tribune, 6/13]

Scranton Times-Tribune: Pre-Existing Misfeasance. “The Trump administration imperiled access to health care for millions of Americans last week when it declined to defend in court the Affordable Care Act’s provision that health insurers may not deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions… The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that 27 percent of people younger than 65 (Medicare coverage age) have a pre-existing condition that would affect their insurance access or cost. Whatever the controversies that have plagued the ACA, coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions is its most popular feature. Kaiser polling consistently has shown it to have an 70 percent approval rating among all Americans, including 59 percent of Republicans. This is another case of the administration hewing to a narrow base, even at the expense of health care for millions… Americans want coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions, and Congress should ensure that they have access to it.” [Times-Tribune, 6/10]

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Health Care Issue Isn’t Dead, Though GOP Is Trying. “One of Obamacare’s most popular provisions says that the 52 million non-elderly American adults with pre-existing conditions can’t be denied coverage or charged more for it. In a 2017 Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 84 percent of Democrats, 68 percent of independents and 59 percent of Republicans favored guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions. However, the tax-cut bill enacted in December eliminated Obamacare’s penalty for failing to purchase health insurance. The end of the so-called individual mandate caused 20 Republican state attorneys general to again challenge the overall constitutionality of Obamacare’s consumer protections, including coverage of pre-existing conditions. The Justice Department chimed in to agree. A final court decision on the challenge could be years away. In the meantime, voters with pre-existing conditions might want to factor it into their decisions in November.” [Post Dispatch, 6/25]

Seattle Times: Affordable Care Act Is Worth Saving. “This month, the Justice Department announced it would stop defending the ACA’s pre-existing conditions protections in court. Insurance companies may start refusing to insure people who have already been diagnosed with cancer or diabetes, for example, and not worry about facing government legal action… [This] attack pushes the ACA further onto shaky ground — and for no good reason.” [Seattle Times, 6/18]

ashoup
In News, Administration, Stories

Supreme Court Vacancy Puts Pre-Existing Conditions on the Chopping Block

President Trump promised to have “a very strong test” for his Supreme Court nominees, and that test is whether they’re prepared to:

  • Allow insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions;
  • Make the cost of premiums, copays, deductibles and prescription drugs higher; and
  • Charge people age 50 and older more for their plans by overturning the consumer protections and market reforms in the Affordable Care Act.

If the Senate does not intervene, the balance of the Court could turn against the 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, and millions more. Don’t believe us? Just take a look.

Modern Healthcare: Kennedy Retirement Could Have “Far-Reaching Consequences” On Health Care. “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, 81, retired Wednesday, setting in motion a shakeup of the high court that could have far-reaching consequences on issues like abortion and healthcare.” [Modern Healthcare, 6/27]

WNPR: Pivotal Court Case Could Determine The Future Of The Affordable Care Act. “President Donald Trump has tried to fulfill a key campaign promise of repealing the ACA since he became president. So far, efforts to do that in Congress have largely been in vain. […] ‘The administration’s entire strategy is do whatever it can outside of Congress,’” a legal scholar points out. [WNPR, 6/28]

MedPage Today: Pre-Existing Condition Case Could Swing Due To Kennedy Retirement. “It’s possible that an ongoing Texas case questioning the viability of the Affordable Care Act may also make it to the court eventually.” [MedPage Today, 6/27]

ABC News: Kennedy Supported ACA, Subsidies Allowing Low-Income Americans To Obtain Insurance. “That same year, Kennedy voted to uphold a key component of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, allowing the federal government to provide nationwide tax subsidies to help Americans buy health insurance.” [ABC News, 6/27]

Some On Trump’s Short List Have Already Decided Against Americans’ Access to Affordable Health Care. “In 2011, [Steven Colloton] voted[…] to side with religious nonprofits challenging the Affordable Care Act’s rules for contraceptive coverage.” [WSJ, 6/27]

New York Times: Kennedy Retirement Important Due To “Trump Administration’s Recent Indication That It Will Use The Courts To Dismantle The Law’s Popular Protections For People With Pre-Existing Conditions.” [NYT, 6/27]

Fortune: Retirement Could Affect The Future Of Abortion Rights, ACA. “Kennedy was seen as a firewall against efforts to dismantle abortion rights enshrined under the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in the 1970s—and anti-abortion groups are already gearing up to challenge abortion laws across the country in the wake of Kennedy’s retirement, which could potentially have an effect on other health care-related issues such as the future of the Affordable Care Act.” [Fortune, 6/27]

ashoup
In Administration, News

Kennedy Retirement Elevates Threat Against 130 Million Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions

Washington, D.C. – Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement after the announcement of a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Last month, President Trump joined a lawsuit to overturn protections of health care for the 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions.

“Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have voted to repeal health care protections and gone to court to overturn them, but they must be stopped from shoving another radical right-wing justice onto the Supreme Court who will join in their crusade against our care. The Trump Administration is explicitly asking the court to overturn protections for the 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, and now it is every Senator’s responsibility to stand against any appointee who would vote to strip away these critical health protections for hundreds of millions of Americans.”

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